


Just a Hop, Skip, and a Jump

by Optima_chama, UltimateGamer101



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: AAAAAALLL ABOARD THE ANGST TRAIN!, And That Includes Adopting Innocent Anti-Void Children, But Not Easy, CHOO-CHOO MOTHAFUCKA!, Dragons Do What They Want, F/F, F/M, First Time for Everything Fest, Funny, Has a plot, It Ain't Easy, Just... Isn't Obvious, Let's Play Spot The Kleptomaniac!, Like, Like a Void Woman Baby, M/M, MUCH COMEDY, Meraki is a Mother Hen, Multi, Multiverse Shenanigans, Omorose Makes Everyone Worry, Omorose... Is Pretty Clueless, Randomness, SO ANGST, SUCH FLUFF, That's Where the Angst will Truly Happen, Then We Dive into Dimension Hopping, This'll be slow at first, To Write a Character Like That?, at first, do you know how hard it is, fite me helen, lots of shenanigans, magic shenanigans, not on purpose
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-01
Updated: 2017-09-13
Packaged: 2018-11-07 19:41:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 89,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11065791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Optima_chama/pseuds/Optima_chama, https://archiveofourown.org/users/UltimateGamer101/pseuds/UltimateGamer101
Summary: The Multiverse was collapsing.It started out small, with just a few things here and there beingnot quite right. A fish was yellow instead of blue, delicious golden fruit on a tree turned purple, pristine bones were black instead of white... Little things, little insignificant things that one who didn't know any better wouldn't notice.But they knew better. The skeletons, that is- those Sanses and Papyruses who breached the membranes of their universes and traveled to others with the help of strange machines that should've never existed. In hopes of solving the problem, the majority had taken up residence in a large mansion together. Thankfully, the Multiverse had mostly stabilized with this. Sure, they need to go back to their own universes every so often to keep things in check, but at least things couldn't get much worse.Enter Omorose and Meraki, two girls in a world that changes within the blink of an eye. Will they be able to help restore the balance of their Multiverse, or will everything fall apart around them?





	1. Let's Introduce Ourselves, Shall We?

**Author's Note:**

> ~~~AU Ownership + Skelly Nicknames!~~~  
> Undertale- Toby Fox (Sans, Papyrus)  
> SieluTale- ShadowFoxDemon27 / sielutale (Seriff)  
> UnderSwap- popcornpr1nce (Blueberry, Honey)  
> UnderFell- *Community Created* (Red, Edge)  
> FellSwap- sansouls / *Community Created* (Raspberry, Syrup)  
> UnderPatch- borurou (G, Giant)  
> BabyBlasters- ask-babyblasters (Kit, Pup)  
> UnderLust- nsfwshamecave (Lust, Flush)  
> Outertale- 2mi127 (Orion, Pluto)  
> StoryShift- voltrathelively / ut-storyshift (Chara, Azzy)  
> UnderFresh- loverofpiggies (Fresh)  
> Feraltale- DragonLovingGirl6 (Fuzz, Spike)  
> Sciencetale- talkingsoup (Sci)  
> Aftertale- loverofpiggies (Geno)  
> Horrortale- sour-apple-studios (Axe)  
> EvolutionTale- UltimateGamer101 / evolutiontale-au (Myles, Adorious)  
> UnderMafia- undermafiaz (Mafioso, Sniper)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ulti: I feel good~ *da-na-na-na-na-na-na*
> 
> Opti: *Dances around like a goofball in her excitement.*

Being a dragon was pretty awesome. Meraki slept a lot, lived a super long time, was immensely powerful and got to fly, and generally experienced the vast beauty of nature. And sure, with her lackadaisical tendencies it was difficult to keep up with the latest news of humanity, but she made due quite nicely when she was awake enough to meander around town- in human form, of course.

Still, the dragoness was relatively surprised when she discovered the existence of monsters. When did they return from under the mountain? Was she just asleep when the Barrier was broken? Did they even remember the existence of her species?

Welp, there was only one way to find out.

"Heya little dude. Ever heard of dragons before?"

The small monster child stared at the lady for a few minutes and shook their head before climbing onto the bench and into her lap. Amused, Meraki did nothing to remove them and simply closed her eyes to bask a bit in the warm sun. If the armless yellow monster wanted to nap against her squishy human legs, that was cool. Reptilian monsters liked sunlight a bit more than other types of monsters, from what she could recall, and who was she to deprive the kid of a nice resting spot?

As the sun crossed the sky, the park she was in became more and less active, parents bringing their children out to play and groups of friends having picnics on this beautiful day. It was days like these that made Meraki appreciative for the nature reserves and such that humanity had set up to limit themselves. They'd been going a bit overboard with that industrial age of theirs, but hey, with the help of a few shifters and fae, they'd learned that the planet needed its greenery to stay beautiful and functional. The humans had promise, if only they could stop hating each other over such petty things like appearance and opinion.

"Yo, thanks for letting me hang out! I've never met a human as relaxed as you!"

Opening a single eye, the lady grinned and sent finger guns to the kid, clicking her tongue in a playful manner.

"Why be tense all the time? Most humans are just rushing through life without decent breaks. Work, work, work. Stress, stress, stress. It's no wonder humanity is so methodical as a whole. They could do better to appreciate beautiful days like these, such perfect weather for a game of tag or hide and seek."

As though she was parting upon them words of great wisdom- honestly with her age, she probably was expected to- the monster kid nodded and waved his tail in farewell.

"I'll see you around, yo! I'm gonna tell everyone I met a cool human like you!"

Heh, the kid thought she was human. Granted, that was the general idea for being in human form, but it was still pretty amusing. Perhaps monsters had forgotten about dragons, after all.

The sunlight lessened as a breeze began to kick up, the evening colors of the sky vibrant and vivid. Most humans and families were starting to pack up and walk back to their habitations. With the many sources of noise gone, the evening got even more peaceful than the day itself was.

…….There was a flash of raw magic far above Meraki’s presence. Followed by distant girly screaming.

Oh, welp, nevermind.

Curious as to the source of such distant screaming and magic, the dragoness glanced up towards the sky, and raised a single eyebrow at the sight of a young woman falling towards the pavement nearby. That would be a painful landing, one that Meraki was capable of softening, and thus she did so.

Casually standing up from the bench and walking over to the estimated landing point, the tall female held her arms out in an almost lazy fashion... and caught the lovely lady securely against her chest.

“Oof!” Her form fell roughly into two practically steel-like arms, bruising her back and the back of her legs causing soft whine of pain to escape her lips.“O-Owww…. That hurt…”

"Heya, nice of you to drop in. You okay?"

The unknown dark-skinned woman whimpered softly as she squirmed in the grasp she was trapped in, her hands rubbing at her tear-filled eyes. “What… What just-oh.” Taking her fists away from her eyes, that glimmered like amethysts, they went wide with shock at the sight of a tree _, an actual fucking tree,_ right in front of her. Her jaw dropped as she whipped her head around, shimmering gray hair following the movement, to see a sky, the sun, even grass— Just like she had seen in the dictionary that had once fallen into the dimension she had taken residence in!!

So… Beautiful…

It finally clicked that something unusual to her ears (someone speaking?) was heard, and her head swiveled to lock gazes, the left eye surrounded by an intricate black tattoo, with a fiery orange gaze.

“……Hi.”

Looking upon the girl in her arms, Meraki raised her other eyebrow, so both eyebrows were now raised. It seemed as though a slightly different approach would be best.

"It seems you don't know what just happened either. Can I have your name?"

“……….” The unknown female stared in absolute silence for quite a long time, seemingly taken by the lovely amber and golden appearance of the woman, before-

_SQUISH._

“You’re soooo prettyyyy~.” She whispered in awe, child-like wonder and lavender stars twinkling amongst her irises as she gently squished the woman’s cheeks together, lightly squealing at the stimulus of soft skin, something she can never remember feeling EVER, raced across her palms. She really didn’t mean to ignore the question that was given, but— _HOLY FUCK SHE HAD SUCH SOFT HAIR!_

It was at this moment that Meraki knew... this precious child must be protected at all costs.

"Thank you. You're quite beautiful yourself, yeah? Careful you don't go about falling for anyone as quickly as you did me. I wouldn't want to see any tears on that pretty face of yours."

With that, the dragoness began walking through the park, figuring that it'd be nice to show the other some of the natural beauty around them. She seemed to be enamored with Meraki's skin and hair already, so really, the dragon-in-human-form was curious as to what her reaction to nature would be.

“Me? Pretty…?” She hummed absently as she wove her fingers through the silky locks with vibrating glee. “From what I remember in the dictionary I had, pretty is the word to describe being attractive in a delicate way without being truly beautiful or handsome… I don’t really know if I am to be described as pretty. I have never seen anything of myself other than my hands and legs. But realizing this, I have made an error in my words; You’re much more than pretty, fiery female. Oh, you are a female, correct? I am unsure of your composition in reference to who and what you are I’m afraid—“

On and on, she continued to babble, ultimately excited to be feeling so much at once, even as magic of all different hues flirted over her skin in her excitement.

Meraki snickered to herself, continuing to carry the other girl around the park until they reached the bench she'd originally been sitting at.

Ah, laziness at its finest.

"Slow your roll there, Beautiful. Yes, dear, I am female, and you appear to be such yourself. But before we get into the subject of gender identities, let's introduce ourselves, shall we? My name is Meraki. What's your name?"

“Oh!” She blinked rapidly and _verrrrrrry_ reluctantly removed her hands from the woman’s hair in order to clasp them to her chest.  “I apologize, I was unaware that I was being… rude? I believe that is the word… My name is Omorose! Yes, I am biologically female, you are very astute madam!”

"Well, what we 'ave here?" A smooth voice spoke up, a skeleton approaching from behind the tree as he pulled out a vape. "When we felt that wave of raw magic, I had a few suspicions of what it could be.... Good ta see I was wrong though. Conversation would've been hella awkward otherwise..." The smell of Blue Raspberry entered the air as he took a drag from his vape, humming a little as he breathed out non-nicotine smoke.

“What ho?” The woman now known as Omorose’s head shot up at the sound of a new voice, and her eyes shifted over to the skeleton that appeared out of NOWHERE. _How?!_ Oh well, she supposed she just did the same thing too; she preferred not be the definition of a hypocrite.  “A new being approaches. Is this a friend of yours Madame Meraki? Was he around earlier? He just suddenly appeared.”

Meraki grinned to herself at that, turning to look at the newest arrival without releasing Omorose. Yep. Omorose was a precious thing to be protected.

"Yep, this is a friend I know from school. Heya Seriff. Nice to see you without a horde of fangirls or stalking skeletons after you. How'd you escape this time?"

Sans, or to save confusion Seriff, tilted his head while Meraki turned around. Hm, that woman was new... and hopefully sane. If not sane then at least not have the lust drive of Lust Sans. He exhaled smoke, shrugging a little, "The fangirls are easy to escape when you 'ave a high Speed Stat. Also handy when you can shortcut away... The otha's though..."He paused. "Welp, someone had to go check out the magical boom that came from that girl there. So I volunteered....." He looked to the side as he took another drag of his vape, "And by volunteered, I mean I ran away amidst the confusion. So we might want to get going before they panic so much they send the national guards or whateva...."

Omorose didn't mean to block out the words of this new being, really, she didn't. But there was so much around her that demanded her attention! She squirmed as she looked around in Meraki's hold, making sounds of delight as she spotted birds flitting over their heads and the little flurries of dandelions wafting in the evening breeze. Her eyes were bright and sparkled with wonder before her attention was averted back to the Seriff creature.

"Oh, you mean the portal I accidentally created that led me here? Was that a magical disturbance? I did not mean to cause a ruckus."

With a wider grin than before, Meraki stood up and began walking past Seriff, being careful to keep the skeleton in sight of the new girl. It was clear that she was taking Seriff's advice on leaving, with the way she glanced back at him and tilted her head in the direction she was going, mischief clear within her gaze. "It'd probably be best if we got going then. Might as well keep you outta their clutches as long as possible, and while we're doing that, we can show this adorable young creature the wonders of this world."

Seriff nodded, following after his friend and sighing, "It's been getting worse with 'em lately," he explained as he ambled on behind them. "'Specially Blue. Love 'is lil heart but I'm gettin' tired of checking m'backpack every day to make sure he hadn't hid inside while I wasn't lookin'." He took another drag of his vapor while examining the odd girl in Mer's arms. So... it _was_ her who caused the disturbance.

"Oh, speaking of..."The dragoness turned her attention to Omorose, raising a single eyebrow again.

"How old are you, lovely?"

The blank blink and stare was the response given to Meraki’s question before she answered verbally.

“I am afraid I do not understand your inquiry.”

"She's askin 'ow long you've existed. 'Ow many years an' all that."

“Exist… To have objective reality of being. Years… The plural definition of the time taken by a planet to make one revolution around their sun. Can also be defined as age…” She muttered to herself, gaining what seemed to be a look of concentration. “A unit of time… Time… Oh!!” Her face lit up in a bright smile then as she looked to them both. “I do not understand the concept of time I’m afraid! I come from a place where time is non-existent, so…. I do not know how long I have existed!”

Meraki cast a surprised glance towards Seriff, a silent inquiry in her eyes as to what he thought about this. Seriff examined Omorose for a moment, exchanging glanced with Meraki when it came to her description. It wasn't possible, was it? Was she from the Void...? 

"Well, I guess we oughta do something about that. Most places do have time, and so many things actually revolve around it. Humans, in particular, have a strange obsession with time, which makes you a little bit out of the ordinary. What was it like where you come from, eh?"

“I suppose you could describe it as blank. Nothing. There is nothing of such vibrancy as I can see here! It is… it was… um…” Her eyes fell onto Seriff’s skull, her mouth scrunched up to the side as she attempted to look for a descriptor before she pointed at him in an excited eureka moment. “The color of you, strange being! But much brighter! And never-ending!” She then blinked before looking up at Meraki curiously. “Humans are dependent on time? What exactly is the definition of a human in this dimension? Are you not a human, Madame?”

It was white. Thank Delta, she said it was white. Well, sort of. She mentioned it was the same shade as him so she might have well have said white. "The Anti-Void." He sighed, "You were in the Anti-Void." Glancing back over at Mer, and took another drag of his vape, "It's a.. 'ard to explain. Let's get somewhere fangirl/relative free before I go into details of it."

She nodded in agreement shortly after, of course, and returned her attention to the young woman in her arms, curiosity quite audible within her voice when she spoke. "Sounds good to me, Seriff. And yes, humans are dependent upon time. They like to schedule their entire lives based upon it, which in my opinion, is unnecessarily stressful. Poor things..." Meraki led the skeleton into the nearby woods, off the beaten path. She had a cave nearby that served as a neat little home, furnished with various human things and a place which Seriff had been to a few times. The path would seem familiar, as it meandered gradually up the mountain. Pausing, the dragoness sniffed the air and proceeded to move a little slower. They were almost there. "Humans are typically bipedal creatures that appear similar to you and me, with two arms and two legs and one head and one torso. I myself aren't human, although I currently look like one. Seriff already knows this from a certain... incident involving his relatives and the pool on the school roof."

"It was hilarious!" Seriff supplied helpfully from the side.

“Time sounds extremely complicated. I would say from your description that that would make me human, but I believe this to be false due to the fact that time is a factor that I am impervious to.” Omorose couldn’t help but comment and shifted once again in Meraki’s hold. Her legs were starting to get the pin-and-needle feeling that she often got when she sat on them for too long.

It was uncomfortable.

“Madame Meraki. I hope I have not given you the impression that I am handicapped and you have to carry the burden that is my weight. I do have the ability to walk; perhaps you could put me down?"

"Oh, she knows you can walk Sheila." Seriff drawled, patting the younger's head before hopping onto a tall rock in the cave and humming. "Right, so before we go more into the whole time thing. Lemme explain the whole Anti-Void ta Mer here."

Meraki set the younger lady down, recognizing the physical needs of the body to be in motion (or at least in a comfortable position while at rest). She was aware that carrying someone wasn't entirely normal, but she was a dragon, so she didn't care. Dragons did what they wanted to. "Go on Seriff."

"Before we can go into the Anti-Void, we have to talk about the Void. I refer to it as the 'nothin' " He stretched, "S'the nexus of the universe... well, ALL universes, when I think bout it really. The area between time and space, and the glue that binds both together at the same time. It's the bridge between my 'shortcuts'. The Anti-Void is the exact opposite of the Void. It is somethin'. Yet it's nothin' "

"Okay. Existential paradoxes are cool. So with the Anti-Void being something and nothing, it supports the existence of life without time... yeah? Seems pretty easy to grasp if you've lived as long as I have... and read as many sci-fi novels and watch as many nerd shows as I do."

Moving further into the cave, she picked up a kettle of water, and proceeded to breathe a steady stream of superheated energy onto it... also known as fire. As she did so, a few bags of tea were added to one mug and the hot water was filtered through some coffee grounds into another, and it wasn't long before the two different beverages were ready to be consumed. Ah, the wonders of magic...

Omorose had given immediate attention to Seriff and Meraki at their respective explanations, her hunger for knowledge very much apparent in this instance. “Anti-Void. Added into my repertoire of definitions. Interesting. I ponder on the fact that after one hundred sixty-seven million and nine hundred thousand breaths I have taken in that particular dimension, I only now know the name of it. Confounding really."

Meraki returned to the two guests, with an amused smile at proceeding to hand them their respective drinks. "Do continue. I have acquired the suitable sustenance for the pleasant consumption."

Seriff practically lunged off his rock, landing almost in a cat-like manner next to Meraki and snatching the coffee before appearing on the rock again and downing the coffee like a man dying of thirst. Watching Omorose go into a little tangent made him realize...

"I'm sittin' with two tall poppied pommies while I'm a sort of fuckin ocker or somthin'...."

Meraki had wisely prepared a thermos of coffee for Seriff, upon observing his reaction to the initial mug. _What were they feeding him?_ Poor kid. She'd have to have a little chat with his relatives at some point...

"Nah. No idea what you just said, but I can tell it was somewhat self-degradation, and that shit won't fly here. Not in my house."

The dragoness proceeded to hug Seriff, picking him up in the same fashion she had previously been carrying Omorose. This was evidently something she did often, at least, with those she felt the instincts to protect and care for.

Seriff snatched the thermos and greedily drank it, although he was notably slower to drink it this time. He rolled his eyes when Meraki mentioned his self-insulting words. He had gotten about one more swallow of his coffee before he found himself in the shorter's arms.

He protested but didn't move. Instead, snuggling deeper into the cuddle as if accepting his fate and sipping his caffeinated heaven. The dragoness was pleased with Seriff's acceptance of his fate, and it showed, what with the grin on her face as she regarded him. However, at the sudden silence from Omorose, she looked over in mild concern to see a puzzling sight.

She was just... blinking blankly at the mug she had been handed.

She stared at it.

It seemed to be increasing the external temperature of her palms. Pleasant. There seemed to be something of the liquid variety occupying the container. Visible air--hot air--was occupying it. Intriguing.

……She had no idea what to do with it. 

Noticing the hesitancy of the younger lady present, Meraki spoke up, still cuddling Seriff. "Ah, beautiful, that's tea. I imagine you haven't had it before. Drink it like Seriff drank his coffee- although maybe a bit less enthusiastically. And be careful, it's hot, so it might burn your tongue if you take too large of a sip."

“Tea.” The dark-skinned woman promptly stated at the explanation, the heavy yet delicate herbal scent drifting into her nose.

All of this was new. All of it. Scent, sights, auditory, and now smell. For some, it would be incredibly overwhelming after leaving a dimension where she had none of these senses stimulated.

Her mind, however, could handle all of it.

“Sip… to… drink something in small mouthfuls.” She muttered, pulling up the definition in her head as she sat upon the rock-like seat. “……..I…do not know how to drink. I had no use for such in the… Anti-Void. I do not… Require this in order to survive. Nor… food, I believe the word is. I do not hunger or thirst. Don’t beings need to in order to exist? Will I perish if I do not?” Her inquisitive expression was marred by a small frown. “I am… Unsettled. I have only escaped the Anti-Void one thousand two hundred breaths ago. How concise my existence was outside of it.”

"Woah there, Sheila. Not drinking the tea isn't going to kill ya."

The grin of Meraki faded into a sort of contemplative expression.

"I don't think so. Not immediately, that is. Although some species don't require food in the way that humans do, you seem more like a human than anything else, so that'd be the best starting place for physical needs."

Sitting down next to the grey-haired girl, Meraki kept the skeleton prisoner in cuddle-town with her left arm, before wrapping her right arm around the girl's shoulder.

"For survival, your body knows best. Hunger, thirst, pain- it'll react instinctively for the preservation of your life. Hunger usually manifests as an unpleasant sensation in your stomach, and thirst as a dryness within your mouth and throat. If you feel either, just let me know. I'll take care of ya."

“Information stored,” Omorose said casually, her head tilting to the side inquisitively as she regarded the dragoness with a clueless smile; something that was probably going to be commonplace on her face. “How amiable of you Madame Meraki! I express my profound thanks for your seeming concern for my well-being.” She carefully examined how her new caretaker was wrapping her arms around her guests and slowly reached out an arm in order to do the same to Meraki. Being held in such a way was… Nice. “Using the idea Darwin’s Natural Selection, my lack of experience in this world would probably prove fatal.”

Seriff paid no mind to when Meraki switched to using only one arm, leaning against her while he drank his coffee. "What Sheila said." He shrugged when it came down to drinking and eating. He watched Omorose's actions and tilted his head...

Hm....

This Child must be Protected.

Her head then swiveled to the entrance of the cave as her very sensitive ears caught the sound of… something.

“I believe I’m hearing the sound of… other voices? Similar to Mister Seriff’s own?”

His protective thoughts, however, were cut off when she mentioned voices that sounded similar to him. He shot up out of Mer's grip, staring towards the entrance to the cave.

_Please let it not be Blueberry and Edge..._

_Please let it not be Blueberry and Edge..._

"PEASANT, YOU BETTER GET OUT HERE NOW WHEREVER YOU ARE."

Oh, thank god it was only Razz-

"PLEASE? THE OTHERS ARE REALLY CONCERNED. I THINK CHARA IS GETTING CLOSE TO CALLING THE NATIONAL GUARD."

DAMMIT.

"I SWEAR IF HE ISN'T OUT HERE, I AM GOING TO KICK HIS-"

"EDGE! LANGUAGE!"

DOUBLE DAMMIT.

Meraki grinned slowly, standing up to peer out of the hidden entrance to her cave, her fiery eyes settling into the three skeletons wandering around the trees nearby. It was fairly amusing to see one of the short ones trying to keep the other two from destroying the branches in their way...

"...heh. Omorose, let's go introduce you to Seriff's skele-fam. Then we can kidnap him without them needing to worry too much."


	2. Friendship. It's Great, Right?

“Oh? New beings to meet?”

Omorose hopped up in interest, her cup of tea still in her hands. The heat was causing her palms some discomfort, but she was reluctant to let go of the filled object. “Relatives of his? From their extremely loud and bombastic speech, I’m sensing they are concerned for him.”

"Ya, you guys go an' introduce yourselves. I'mma stay here, drink coffee, and hide." Seriff hummed, backpedaling away from the girls and further into the cave. Oh dear would you look at the time, it's time to get on the Nope Train, all the way past Nadaville and Fuck that Shit Square before arriving at I'm Good City.

With the metaphorical blessing of the Australian-accented Sans, Meraki promptly picked up Omorose and left the cave through a side exit, careful to keep the main entrance unbothered. Once outside, she set down the girl and pat the top of her grey-haired head, gesturing grandly towards the three new skeletons wandering around.

"Onwards, my precious metal, go forth and seek new friends! I'm your first friend, of course, and Seriff is your second friend. Now gain a third and fourth and fifth!"

“Friends? So soon? Astonishing!” Her eyes twinkled in her elation. “I must be more exceptional at this than I had been sure of! I am off!” She did a weird little sprint-skip like movement as she rushed off, her expression shifting in delight as she headed towards the oncoming voices. “Strange beings! You are heading the wrong way for your relative!”

Wincing at Omorose's words, it was in that moment Seriff realized.....

He needed to diddly darn dang get the fuck up outta there.

.....

Nah, he would wait till they were outside of the cave before shortcutting away. He was a little in tune with the Sans part of him at the moment.

Meraki's eyes widened for a moment, before she quickly ran after the other."Nonono wait Omorose, he doesn't wanna be found right now! His location is a secret!"

“Oh!” Omorose came to a complete stop like the Roadrunner nearby a tree at Meraki’s words, head turning sharply back towards her in confusion. “Why would he not wish to divulge his presence? Are they not-“ Before she could finish her sentence however, a bone shot out from the darkness with intense speed and buried itself deep into the tree she was right beside, narrowly missing her head by mere inches. She didn’t even flinch though; merely blinked as she felt the rush of air whip past her face and then turned to look at the bone which was still vibrating from the rough impact.

………

“What is this?"

"...That, beautiful, is a death wish. The one who has thrown it wishes to meet the end of his life, and travel on to the great beyond." The dragoness stared at the purple bone, before walking up and standing between Omorose and the source of the attack-- Violent little creature, it seemed, one she didn't quite appreciate using said violence when the girl approaching was clearly a precious and innocent creature. "Heya. Seriff's told me about a lot about y'all... I'm curious as to what you've been feeding him, but on to the more important matter- which one of you is the most reasonable?"

“MISS MERAKI!” A sweet and cheerful voice called out from the trees, followed by a small skeleton decked in blue and gray as he bounded into sight. He wore a wide grin and in his sockets twinkled bright blue stars. “IT IS A PLEASURE TO SEE YOU AGAIN, EVEN THOUGH IT IS IN THESE SLOWLY DARKENING AND SPOOKY WOODS… AND WITH A NEW HUMAN? I APOLOGIZE FOR MY COUNTERPART’S BEHAVIOR.” He whipped his skull back towards the way he came with a scolding expression. “RASPBERRY! COME APOLOGIZE TO THE HUMAN YOU NEARLY HURT!”

“TO HELL WITH YOU, YOU BUMBLING FOOL!” Another skeleton, a bit taller than the first though he looked similar, sauntered out with an incredibly irritated expression and was decked in black and red-violet. “IT WAS THE WRETCH’S FAULT FOR APPEARING OUT OF NOWHERE!”

Meraki sent a thumbs up at Blueberry, relaxing almost instantly as she recognized the skeletons approaching. With one arm hung over Omorose's shoulders, she proceeded to lean on the other in a lazy fashion, amusement prevalent in her expression.

"Hey now. While she does have a tendency to do that, you still have the self-control not to attack. Don't you energetic skeletons always boast about your impeccable magic control? I officially call bullshit."

Omorose poked curiously at the red-violet bone, seeing a spark of her magic collect on the tip of her finger and attempt to recreate the exact hue the lodged weapon sported. She watched it with an attentive hum, her doe-like eyes then switching over to the so-called Blueberry and Raspberry at their words. The woman felt it necessary to correct their misobservation.

“Oh, I am not-“

“WHAT ARE YOU FOOLS DOING?! HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN WE ARE DOING SOMETHING IMPORTANT?!” A much raspier and foreign sounding voice came from behind them, an incredibly tall and dark clothed skeleton with cracks across his skull much like Raspberry stalked forth, scowling like he tasted something foul. “WE ARE HERE TO FIND SERIFF, NOT CONVERSE WITH USELESS TRASH!”

With a tone filled with pure innocence, Omorose spoke.

“Wouldn’t it be presumptuous to pin us with such a monkier if you are unaware of our skills and attributes?”

Still leaning on Omorose- more like hanging off of by now- Meraki grinned at the innocent yet accurate statement from the girl. "Yep. They're noobs cuz they're arrogant. Wouldn't know a master fighter until it hit them- literally."

"EXCUSE ME? ARE YOU TRYING TO START A FIGHT WITH US, BITCH?" The short and violent Sans took offense. He took great offense, indeed.

"Arf arf. And nah. Fighting got boring a century or two ago. Although bones can be delicious, with the right type of seasoning... Eh, I'm just not feeling it right now." Being a dragon, Meraki had zero fucks to give on whether she was being threatening or not. Fortunately, after a certain incident involving a small tree and multiple car interiors, most of the skeletons knew not to mess with her.

"HOW THE FUCK HAVEN'T YOU BEEN DUSTED YET!? SUCH INSOLENCE. EDGE, I SAY WE TEACH HER A LESSON." Alas, there were always a few numbskulls running around who couldn't learn until it was already too late.

Omorose was observing her fingertips now as the red-violet color began to spark across all ten of them now, flexing them curiously while she sensed the tension and magic build in the air. She was unaware of what exactly was happening but piped up curiously once again.

“‘Bitch’? I recall from my Dictionary of Knowledge that is a word for a female dog. You are not a dog, correct Madame Meraki? I was certain that such creatures were quadrupeds-“ She was cut off as she gave an accidental flick of her fingers and a bolt of magic shot towards a pine tree. It made contact and after a few seconds of deep silence… A Lily took its place.

A lily that was the same size as the tree before.

………

“…Intriguing.”

"Welp." Seriff hummed as he leaned into view behind the giant lily. "That was unexpected.... Moving on!" He turned around in a casual manner, as if giant lillies were common place in modern society, and glanced Edge and Razz. Tilting his head, he took a drag from his vape, "Try not to kill my friends. Not that you would get very far anyways, but still...."

He closed his eyes, exhaling smoke and swiftly dodging the bone thrown towards him. It was a poor attempt at trying to pin him to something solid.

Edge growled at the failed attempt to secure Seriff, proceeding to ignore the weird magic human in the face of his original goal- apprehending and returning the runaway Sans before them. "COME ON, YOU KNOW WE'RE GOING TO CATCH YOU EVENTUALLY. WHY NOT JUST GIVE UP LIKE YOU SANSES ARE PRONE TO DOING?"

"EXCUSE ME ASSHOLE, I DON'T GIVE UP EASILY. YOU'RE REFERRING TO THE LAZY SKELETONS, NOT JUST SANSES." With that, the Fell Papyrus was joined by Raspberry, and the two aggressive skeletons went after Seriff in an unusual attack pattern. It seemed like they'd been practicing...

Seriff hummed while dodging their attacks, noting their new patterns. "Nah. Don't feel like it. After all, I ain't like the average Sans." He grinned, moving to the side and patting Razz skull, "Already proved that with me height." He retracted his hand quickly when the smaller yet older skeleton tried to grab said arm and jumped over another attack. They have gotten slightly better.... "Gotta go fast... Sonic~" Seriff hummed under his breath as he dodged left and right, "Gotta go faster, faster, faster faster faster...." before jumping up into the trees and darting quickly from branch to branch, tree to tree to keep the two off of him. "Seriously though, can ya blame me for wantin' to leave?!"

During this whole debacle, poor Blueberry was left to smooth things over with the girls, although perhaps that wasn't such a bad thing... He just had to get them out of the line of fire, if they were in danger at all, that is. That odd use of magic from the human implied that they were more powerful than they appeared...

"RIGHT. WE ARE HERE TO BRING SERIFF BACK TO THE HOUSE. HE JUST RAN OFF WHILE WE WERE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHO WAS GONNA CHECK OUT THE MAGIC SURGE NEARBY! I GUESS YOU'RE THE SOURCE, WHICH IS ACTUALLY REALLY HELPFUL, BUT WE WERE STILL WORRIED ABOUT HIM! EITHER WAY, IT IS A PLEASURE TO MEET YOU MISS OMOROSE!"

Omorose tapped a finger against her lips in her curiosity as she stared at the gigantic lily, ignoring the capturing attempt that was happening right in front of her. She would have meandered off towards it in her dream-like state if it wasn’t for Blueberry waving his hand in her face to gain her attention. Her violet eyes shifted towards him, staring for quite a while as he presented his hand to her for a handshake.

The eyes searched his hand, gripping the now lukewarm cup of tea in her own still, unknowingly causing him to hesitate. Being the incredibly isolated creature that she was, she had no clue what it was that the being before her was waiting for.

Next to the clueless girl, the dragoness stood upright and demonstrated a handshake with her own two hands, glancing pointedly between Omorose's right hand and Blueberry's hand. So far, it seemed as though the purple-eyed one wasn't really adept at social cues...

Blinking at Meraki’s demonstration, the other girl made a soft noise as though she seemed to comprehend the sentiment, placed the mug of tea on the bone still by her head, and then took both hands….

And clasped them together.

Before bobbing them up and down.

The dragoness didn't know whether to laugh or cry if she was entirely honest with herself. Poor Omorose was like a baby to the world... she must be protected.

She was literally shaking her hands with herself, and the cute six-foot string bean seemed so damned proud of herself as well, smiling brightly at Blueberry. Who, by the way, was staring back in an extremely confused manner before turning to Meraki.

“I…. I-UM… IS THE HUMAN ALRIGHT?”

"Well, she used to live in the Anti-Void until... eh, however long ago that magic surge was. It seems like what she knows comes from a dictionary, if the analytical speech pattern she uses implies anything..." Releasing the taller female to scratch at the side of her neck, Meraki focused on the blue and gray clad skeleton before them, mostly ignoring the way Raspberry went after Seriff even _faster_ in the background.

Omorose didn’t seem to understand the exasperation and intense puzzlement of those before her as she laced her fingers together, her eyes wandering back over to the large flora she had apparently switched out with a pine tree. She began wandering towards it in her wonder as Blueberry watched her with wide eyes.

“SHE IS FROM THE ANTI-VOID?! BROTHER AND OUR ALTERNATE SELVES WOULD WANT TO KNOW SOMETHING LIKE THAT IMMEDIATELY! I WOULD SAY BECAUSE SHE COULD BE A POTENTIAL THREAT AND... DUE TO THE MAGIC I SAW HER USE, SHE ACTUALLY COULD BE, BUT SHE SEEMS TO BE…”

While looking for a certain word to describe the woman, he watched as she simply waltzed through the shots of magic and bones flying around without so much as a flinch or gaining a scratch, and ending up at the foot of the flower before pressing her hands firmly against the stem and squealing.

“….DOCILE.”

"Mhm... she's about as threatening as a newborn kitten. By the way, this precious soul is officially under my protection. Keep in mind that I bench pressed more children than Undyne in that competition we had that one time." The dragoness smiled lazily at the smallest Sans, keeping a careful eye on his expressions...

...aaaand then, when Raspberry passed by next, she held out an arm just quickly enough to clothesline him. It was glorious and coincidentally happened to help Seriff keep out of his hands. "Quick word to the wise... be careful where you're aiming those bones. Any damage done to Omorose will be mirrored upon you the next time I catch you off guard. You're free to go."

"I dunno bout you guys...." Seriff hummed as he dangled from a tree in a casual manner, "But I'm getting really bored of this whole cat n' mouse shtick." He dropped down behind Edge, before doing a backward dash out of the taller one's reach. "So I'm out."

He gave a lazy grin and a wave, before shortcutting away.

“Farewell Mister Seriff! T’was a pleasure meeting you!” Omorose trilled as she turned from the flora, before tip-toeing to Raspberry’s prone form on the ground and stared down at him with a light sound of question. “Mister Raspberry, why are you planked on the ground? Is it interesting down there?”

It was purely an innocuous question. But, Raspberry, seemingly done with all the disrespect, got up immediately and growled at the female in warning.

“DO NOT SPEAK TO ME IN SUCH A FAMILIAR WAY WRETCH!” He hissed at her, Edge stomping up in his irritation at once again losing Seriff. “CEASE REFERRING TO ME LIKE THAT!”

“Mm?” She gave a doe-eyed blink, holding her ground purely from her inability to process intimidation. “Do you not wish to be referred to by the name others seem to assign you? This concept perplexes me.”

“FOOL. YOU MUST BE WORTHY TO SPEAK TO ME BY NAME!”

“So Madame Meraki has earned that right?”

“NO!”

“Then pray tell, why does she do so anyway?”

“BECAUSE OF HER INSOLENCE!” Omorose stared blankly at the shorter being who seemed to be contradicting himself, before turning her head towards the dragoness and pointing at him.

“This creature seems to be beyond my comprehension; I cannot understand his reasoning.”

Reaching over to pat the shoulder of the innocent Omorose, the dragoness gave her a mock-solemn look. It was only after several moments of silent build-up, that she spoke... "He has an inferiority complex."

"WHAT THE FUCK."

"Yep. I'm afraid it's too late for him. He's kinda gotta deal with it on his own."

"HOW FUCKING DARE YOU. JUST. HOW DARE YOU."

"He's a lot better than he was before though. ANYWAYS." Meraki turned to Blueberry, who swiftly disguised the smile on his face as having been focused on something completely different. No, he wasn't laughing at the violent alternate of himself being pegged to a T. Not at all.

Omorose took note of the generally unhappy expression on Raspberry’s face, before turning to glance up at the much taller skeleton before them, who was glaring down at her.

_Staaaaaaare~_

“WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT, HUMAN?!”

“…..I believe it is you, sir. You are in my ocular vision; Does that not constitute as ‘looking’ in definition?”

“WHY YOU-“

“Forgive my interruption in your expletive, but I must know,” The femme began circling the aggressive creature, peering curiously at his bones and and pale color, “having been held at bay from all information in existence other than my Dictionary of Knowledge, I am at a loss to understand what you are. T’would it be impolite to verbalize that question?”

“OH!” Blueberry bounded over for that one and smiled cheerfully as he gestured to himself and the others. “WE ARE KNOWN AS MONSTERS HUMAN!”

“Monsters…?”

“SKELETON MONSTERS, TO BE PRECISE!” He nodded in reply, before Raspberry groaned in irritation.

“WE’RE WASTING TIME WITH THIS PEASANT’S QUESTIONS! NIGHT IS FALLING, AND DINNER SHALL BE READY AT THE MANSION SOON.”

"Oh food, hallelujah. I'm definitely down for this. By the way, I eat enough for maybe five grown dudes... buuuuut I'll be considerate and cut down on it to teach Omorose a bit of socially acceptable behavior when it comes to such things. We should probably get going over to your mansion, then.... So, teleportation or running? I'm down for either."

"WHO SAID YOU WERE INVITED!?"

"RASPBERRY, NO NEED TO BE RUDE!" Blueberry huffed. "YOU GIRLS ARE WELCOME ANY TIME OF COURSE. THOUGH WE SHOULD BE OFF NOW IF YOU'RE COMING WITH. OUR BROTHERS WILL BE WORRIED!"

“INDEED.” Edge huffed, turning on his heel and walking away. “LET US GO.”

“OH RIGHT! COME MISS MERAKI, MISS OMOROSE, FOLLOW US!”

Meraki proceeded to lay down on the ground, right then and there. It appeared to be slightly uncomfortable... And strange despite her saying earlier that she was alright with running. "This female is tired. The sun is going down. Omorose, carry me to the mansion pleeeaaaase~?"

“Oh. I was unaware I would be taken along for this endeavor.” Omorose murmured before turning to Meraki, and scooping her up with only a slight struggle before following along, Blueberry at her side as Edge and Raspberry walked ahead. “Am I not allowed to wander and gain information of this land?”

"Consider this night to be lesson one on the usual life outside the Anti-Void, beautiful. I shall be your guide, and if you have any questions, it's probably best to ask me first in case of any social no-nos. Like asking a dude about periods is an example of a social no-no. Dudes generally don't like to hear about that stuff." The dragoness was pleased with this arrangement. She was also quite pleased that the other girl was able to carry her with relative ease-- it meant she was strong enough to defend herself, or if she didn't know how to, it meant she could still do some damage.

Didn't mean she wouldn't be a helicopter parent though.

“…..I am unaware of what a ‘period’ is.” Omorose murmured. “By your words, I am coming to understand you mean something other than a punctuation. How confusing. I hope to attain more information while in this dimension.”

“TCH. WE’RE GETTING NOWHERE FAST WITH MERE WALKING.” She glanced up as Edge looked back at her in his usually condescending manner. “HUMAN. HOW FAST ARE YOU?”

“If you speak of my physical limits, the Anti-Void lacked the basic items needed for me to gauge such statistics.”

“FEH. USELESS. IF YOU CANNOT KEEP UP, WE’LL LEAVE YOU BEHIND.” Raspberry muttered, making Blueberry release a sigh.

“PLEASE DO NOT MIND THEM, MISS OMOROSE. JUST ATTEMPT TO KEEP UP, I SHALL NOT ABANDON YOU!”

“Mm. Very well.” She gave a nod of agreement as the monsters began to run ahead of her, and cocked her head to the side. Readjusting her grip around Meraki, she saw orange magic begin to coalesce around her feet before she sprinted after them, almost overtaking their guides as she smiled down at Meraki. “Am I doing this correctly Madame?”

Meraki gave a prompt thumbs up, partnering this action with a firm nod. "Absolutely! You could probably go faster than them if you wanted to... Orange magic is quite the boost, after all."

She wasn't trying to make the skeletons take this as a challenge so they'd get to the food faster. Nope. Not at all. This dragoness had _standards_.

"I SHALL IGNORE SUCH AN OBVIOUS ATTEMPT TO IRRITATE ME FOR NOW, CUR. BE GRATEFUL THAT I'M AWARE OF YOUR ANTAGONISTIC NATURE, AND CHOOSE TO OVERLOOK IT." Heh. Edge saw right through her, it seemed. Kudos to him for that.

...and then Raspberry spoke. "BUT FOR THE RECORD, I AM THE FASTEST SANS PRESENT."

The two Berries stared at each other for a few moments. It was true, they were among the fastest skeletons in the mansion, which was why they'd been sent after Seriff... but it had never been actually tested which of them was the faster. This was either a dangerous situation or a fun one.

“……I BELIEVE YOU ARE MISTAKEN."

“YOU ARE THE ONE MISTAKEN HERE, WIMP.”

“ARE YOU IDIOTS TRULY ABOUT TO FALL FOR HER RU-“

“Though I am not a Sans, whatever said label may imply, I may be a contender for the swiftest being here; I have not seen limits to my magic as of yet.” Omorose politely cut in, immediately gaining three insulted and doubtful looks. “However, seeing as you are leading us to an unknown place, I gain the idea that testing this theory would be unwise this moment.”

Meraki grinned in the arms of the void-dweller, very amused by the situation she had helped to create. Ah, competition. It was a lovely thing to encourage.

"I already know I'm not fast enough to participate in this metaphorical race, so I'll just act as a training weight. Go get 'em, tiger. I believe in you." Who exactly she was speaking to was very unclear...

Edge gave an extremely done sigh, deciding to just participate in the impromptu race as Omorose gave a nod of understanding. “Very well.”

“I SHALL NOT BE DEFEATED BY TRASH.”

“GAME ON!”


	3. Hey, Little Buddies. Let's Watch Red Be An Ass.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ulti: »w» that surprise angst in the middle tho  
> Opti: (<.<) It was Ultimate who invited Angst to the party.

The skeletons within the Multiverse Mansion were having a fantastic day today. That may or may not have been sarcasm... but still. Some were happy, some were pissed, and some were their usual grumpy selves.

And then, there was that massive disturbance in the fabric of reality.

They'd thought this shit was over-- that the problem had been solved by them all moving into a single universe together, but nooooo, the Multiverse had to throw them this surprise. Naturally, a fight broke out when they were faced with the prospect of all their hard work being for nothing, and it was in that chaos that Seriff had escaped.

Now, this probably wouldn't seem like such a big deal, but Seriff was one of the youngest Sanses present, the youngest if you didn't count any of the Babybones AU's. He was only 17 (so they believed) so, naturally, they felt a bit protective of him. Thus, the arguing was put to a temporary rest, and Blueberry, Raspberry, and Edge were all sent after him to retrieve him.

...it was a short while later, most of it spent theorizing and half-heartedly preparing for the worst, that the skeletons within the house heard something similar to a herd of stampeding wildebeests originating from outside. Classic Papyrus, one of the antsiest of those present, was the first to slam open the door and peer outside at the source of such racket... and he paused.

"BROTHERS, THEY'VE RETURNED, BUT I DON'T SEE SERIFF WITH THEM. INSTEAD THERE SEEM TO BE TWO HUMANS, ONE OF WHICH IS CARRYING THE OTHER AND KEEPING UP WITH BLUE AND RAZZ RATHER IMPRESSIVELY, WHILST EDGE IS LOOKING RATHER SALTY ABOUT BEING IN LAST PLACE." Oh boy. Now _that_ was something they needed to see.

These two ‘humans’ were, in fact, Omorose and Meraki, Omorose seeming very casual about the whole thing, and Meraki lazily waving around a pennant and cheering the younger woman on. Omorose caught sight of Papyrus’ form in the suddenly open door (soon being joined by other skeletal beings there as well as nearby windows) and brightened with a smile as she turned to Blue and Razz.

“Is that another relative of yours?” Getting a harried nod from Blue and an irritable growl from Razz, she cocked her head to the side. “Logically speaking, this must be your place of habitation! Now that this information has been acquired, I must ask you to pardon me-“ With that little tidbit causing them to widen their sockets, she shot ahead with a burst of orange leaving her feet and victoriously landed on the stoop of the entrance, unaware of the many blank and shocked sockets pointed at her smiling form. She hadn’t even broke a sweat!

“I’ve done it Madame Meraki!”

"Whoooo! Yeah, Omorose! Seeing skeletons with shocked expressions should be my new hobby, with how much I enjoy it. First Seriff, and then the world! MUAHAHAHAHA!"

Meraki threw down her cheering pendant and hopped up into a standing position from Omorose's arms, both in one smooth motion. Her gold jewelry flashed in the dim lighting as she did so, and with another smooth motion, her silver-cased phone was out and snapping pictures of the nearby skeletons with shocked expressions.

"Ooh, that's a nice one... Beautiful, what do you think?" The girl with warm cognac-orange eyes leaned over to the girl with amethyst eyes, showing the picture on her shiny phone to the other. It was a lovely snapshot of Razz with an expression of disbelief, which seemed to also show a slight, grudging admiration present within his eyelights.

"Extraordinary!! You have immortalized the being's face in the small metal rectangle! How is this possible?!" Omorose fawned over the new contraption Meraki had placed in front of her, looking ten different kinds of excited as Edge finally rushed up, his sockets focused on her.

"This, my dear, is a cell phone. I'm gonna get you a good one. A shiny one. One that works the best, and looks as gorgeous as your soul does."

"Is this related to the concept of time you were relaying to me? How is it- eep!" Edge scooped her up with a grip underneath her arms and scowled at her purely confused face.

"HOW DID YOU MANAGE TO BEAT ALL THREE OF US HERE?! YOU DIDN'T EVEN KNOW WHERE TO GO, YOU SAID SO YOURSELF!"

"Mm? Oh, hello Mister Edge, I had almost forgotten your presence." His expression turned aghast and offended as she continued on. "I merely kept my speed steady, waiting for the moment I realized where we would stop running and then quickened my pace. I also used the full length of my legs, to lengthen my stride. T'was not difficult at all." Her tone was nowhere near patronizing of course, merely telling it like it was, but the skeleton's temper seemed to be rising. She did not understand why.

Meraki was quick to remove Omorose from the general vicinity of the tall and angry skeleton, placing herself in between the two in order to act as a buffer.

Of course, she snapped a picture of Edge's fantastically offended face before doing so, and it was at this moment that Blueberry wisely intervened.

"WELL, HOW ABOUT WE TAKE THIS INSIDE? I'M SURE PAPY AND THE OTHERS WILL WANT TO MEET THE LADY HUMANS CAPABLE OF CREATING A DISTURBANCE IN THE FABRIC OF REALITY ITSELF."

"Technically not human." Seriff hummed as he appeared behind Tale Papyrus, drinking from a flask of unknown origin. "Mer over there is a Dragon. I dunno what Omorose is but 't this point I'm pretty sure she's not human either."

 **“SERIFF?!?!”** The three skeletons that had gone to retrieve him shouted in absolute shock, while Tale Papyrus nearly jumped a foot in the air at his ‘relative’ doing a Batman on him.

“Oh! Hello again, Mister Seriff!” Omorose called politely as she was taken from Edge’s grasp, but then squealed as she was grabbed by her wrist and was yanked inside the house.

“so yer the reason for the disturbance, eh? why ya messin’ with our peace, huh?” Her head tilted up at the throaty growl in her ear, locking eyes with a skeleton with a sharp, toothy grin (one tooth was golden!) and a red spiked collar around his neck. She blinked a few times as he glared down at her with beady red eyelights….

Then she cocked her head to the side.

“It was, how you say… by accident.”

“RED!! THERE’S NO NEED TO BE SO AGGRESSIVE, SHE’S HARMLESS!” Blue shouted, slightly panicked as he prepared for Meraki’s response.

"Soooooo..." The dragoness casually ducked around Papyrus, muttering a polite, "Excuse me-" as she did so, before coming to a standstill beside Red. Once there, she threw a careless arm over his shoulder, giving absolutely zero fucks about the glare he turned in her direction.

"That seems to be the expression of someone about to make a _very poor_ life decision. To avoid this, I highly recommend that you release my beautiful charge, and take several steps away from her until you reach a safe distance of roughly six meters away."

Flicking her gaze between the skeletons closest to herself and Omorose- Red, Seriff, Papyrus, Edge, Blueberry, Raspberry, and three new arrivals, from closest to farthest- she calculated the chances of further threats to Omorose, feeling rather territorial over the innocent girl. Nobody fucked with a Dragon and got away without facing the consequences. Nobody... unless it was pleasurable and consenting fucking with, of course. That was cool.

“‘Ey now, no need for all the violence.” One of the three newest arrivals had quickly read all the tension in the air and easily swooped the cause of it from Red’s grasp and into his own arms. This one had on black skinny jeans that revealed the top part of his pelvis, as well as a leather jacket… And that’s it. His ribcage was completely exposed to Omorose’s curious eyes as he cradled her. His sockets, which had cracks leading from them and a yellow eyelight in the left one, stared down at her, a smug grin stretching across his face.

"Like what ya see Angel?"

“Mm? Of course, everything I see seems to be new to me, so I’m finding everything quite pleasant!” Of course, the sweet woman-child from the anti-void did not understand the concept of flirting.

"No point in trying G." Seriff hummed, eating some popcorn. Where did he get it? Nobody knows~

Well, technically someone knows. They saw him disappear into the kitchen after Meraki started to walk over to red and then come out a few minutes later with the buttered sustenance.

Who saw him do it? Nobody knows~

~~(It was Sans.)~~

Meraki promptly released Red from her 'casual' over the shoulder hold, moving over to the leather-clad Sans of UnderPatch, an interesting expression upon her own face. "Allow me to put things in perspective for those of you present..."

She promptly removed Omorose from G's arms, setting the grey-haired girl down beside herself, and throwing an arm over her shoulder in a protective manner. "So you guys know how you treat Seriff? Imagine a baby Seriff. Imagine how you'd protect him from absolutely everything at that point. Then, imagine that baby Seriff has the capability get into actual trouble. This is essentially what Omorose is like right now..."

"Uh... They kinda already do that? Don't have to really imagine it." Seriff pointed out, raising a brow in response to Meraki. "Why do you think I run away all the time?"

"Shoosh, you. I mean more than they already do."

"Is that even a thing?"

"AAAAAANYWAYS." Meraki's fiery gaze sharpened, as she bared her teeth towards G in what could barely- heh- be called a smile. "She's lived in the Anti-Void her entire life, so you can imagine just how much she knows about our universe. Be nice to her, and don't corrupt her. Capische?"

Omorose was taking all the manhandling pretty well, considering; though all the casual touching was sending the sensory part of her brain into a state of overloading. It was a wonder she hadn’t passed out yet.

Not that she understood what fainting or sleeping was much either.

“we gotcha, mer. sorry ‘bout all the rough handlin’.” It was at this moment that Sans and Papyrus Classic strolled up, one much more cautious than the other. “things are often rowdy around here, don’t take it personally… so you’re the one that caused the disturbance? you came from the anti-void?”

“Correct.”

“GREETINGS HUMAN-LOOKALIKE VOID CREATURE!” Papyrus grasped one of Omorose’s hands and shook vigorously with a bright smile. “I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AND I WELCOME YOU TO OUR HOME!”

“Salutations!” She chirped back, shaking her arm with all her might in return as she remembered the small lesson that Meraki gave earlier, creating quite the comical sight. “I am the anomaly Omorose!”

“ya ain’t jokin’…” Red muttered, eyeballing her cautiously.

"Watch it, mer's still lookin' at ya Red," Seriff muttered to his Edgy McEmo Mini-self.

Meraki grinned towards Red in a menacing manner at Seriff's comment, before turning to Sans and nodding acknowledgment to his verbal peace offering. It was at that moment that she realized... she was hungry.

"Ay. Where's the kitchen? I'm gonna be a rude dragon and raid your fridge for consumable loot."

“EXCUSE YOU?!” Razz shouted indignantly as Sans jabbed a thumb at the entrance behind him.

“s’thatta way.” He answered nonchalantly, eyeing Omorose’s form in a more curious fashion than cautious now. Meraki nodded in thanks and sauntered off to raid the fridge.

“hey bro, can ya go get the other-“ Sans was cut off by two smol skeletons (much smaller than Blue and Razz) rushing into the room, curious to all the ruckus they could hear. They were technically the younger versions of GasterBlaster Sans and Papyrus, and upon seeing Omorose, they stopped and stared.

She stared back.

………..

“oi, rugrats,” Red spoke up, still extremely wary of the anomaly in their living room (can you blame him? Look at the timeline he originated from!) “the ‘ell are ya doin’ down ‘ere? get ya bony butts back up-“

Fat chance.

Babyblaster Pap had already crossed the room, quickly being followed by his worrisome brother, and barreled himself into Omorose’s stomach; effectively knocking her over. “Greetings, pretty human!”

“B-bro, don’t just go knocking over people you don’t know!”

Omorose hadn’t know what to expect as the little skeleton dashed in her direction… but landing flat on her back was pretty far out of that ballpark.

Several moments later, Meraki returned with a tupperware container of cold spaghetti, eating it without a care in the world. It tasted indescribable... but she only stopped when the smol skeleton children arrived.

"Oh my gosh." The first thing she did was hold up her phone and snap several pictures of the children and Omorose. Such a sight was too adorable to ignore.

Oh well. You learn something new every day.

“Hello, extra small skeleton.” Omorose answered amiably, lifting her head to stare down at the cheerful little skull grinning back up at her. “By what are you called?”

“I’m Pup!” The sweet child responded before getting pulled back by his older brother. “And this is my brother, Kit!”

“E-Eh, sorry about that pretty lady…” Kit murmured shyly, pushing his brother behind him in a slightly protective manner. “He’s… easily excited by humans.”

“Oh, I’m not a human, apologies for the disappointment… But it is of no consequence!” She smiled as she sat up, bringing her legs to her chest and wrapping her arms around them in an effort to make herself seem smaller for the children.

She was unaware how all the older skeletons seemed to relax as she did so; if she wasn’t a danger to the littlest of them all, there shouldn’t be a problem.

"Oh. Well, if you're not human, what are you?" The smol Papyrus tilted his head in an inquisitive manner behind his brother, unaware that many of the other occupants of the room were wondering that very thing as well. The others, of course, did their best to disguise their interest- UnderPatch Papyrus sneaking off quietly to retrieve the skeletons that were currently not in the room.

Meraki noted this action, and cast her gaze towards the doorway for a few moments, before going over to crouch beside the curled up Omorose and take another bite of the cold spaghetti. It was still indescribable... Yet she still ate it.

“I am afraid I don’t know,” Omorose answered, her eyes cast downwards as she thought of this fact. “I… do not know much of myself. I remember being in the white expanse of space even during my late formative years. I do not need to eat, drink, or sleep. But… that is it. I know not of even my appearance— I have only seen my hands and legs.” She let said limbs twitch slightly as she referred to them, and it was at this moment Blueberry blushed a radiant blue and coughed into his fist.

“U-UM… SPEAKING OF WHICH? P-PERHAPS YOU COULD USE SOME NEW CLOTHES. IT SOUNDS LIKE THE ONES YOU HAVE ON NOW YOU’VE HAD SINCE YOU WERE A KID, AND… WELL, THEY DON’T REALLY FIT.”

Oh yeah, had the authors forgotten to mention that fact? Omorose’s clothes pretty much consisted of a white tank top and a pair of spandex shorts; While clean, because no dirt existed in the Anti-Void, they were a bit torn and extremely stretched out… and left little to the imagination due to her curvy body.

Suddenly, many skeletal faces lit up with their respective magic. Had they _really_ just noticed this?!

“FOR DELTA’S SAKE SOMEONE GET HER SOMETHING TO WEAR BEFORE THE LUST VERSIONS OF US GET DOWN HERE!!” Edge exclaimed in mortification, rushing forwards with his scarf in hand to wrap around her neck.

"Oh yeah. Thanks for reminding why I came down here with these." Seriff hummed, plopping a t-shirt and a pair of jeans in front of Omorose.

Meraki snickered quietly off to the side, before hearing that comment about Lust versions... then she wasn't laughing anymore.

"If you'll excuse me, there is a thing that I must do." Sauntering off in the direction that Giant had gone- the UnderPatch Papyrus, that is- the dragoness made her way up the stairs and out of sight.

Eh, it wouldn't cause to much trouble to leave her alone for a bit, right?

_Right?_

At least Omorose now had fitting clothes to wear. There was, fortunately, a good sense of dignity present within all the skeletons nearby, as Raspberry was quick to point out the doorway to the bathroom nearby. "CHANGE IN THERE WITH THE DOOR CLOSED. DO NOT CHANGE OUT HERE."

...It was probably a good thing he said that.

Omorose watched all of the flustered reactions (minus the children of course) in extreme puzzlement, before nodding slowly and picking the articles of clothing that had been thrown her way, heading towards the door Razz had pointed out. It wasn’t until she was in the room completely with the door closed that everyone released a sigh of relief.

…………

“ya gotta admit, she had a bangin’ body though.” Red said aloud since Meraki wasn’t around, G nodding in agreement while the others frowned at them.

 **“PERVERTED SCOUNDRELS…”** Blue and Razz muttered in unison.

Upstairs, loud laughter broke out, oddly enough coming from a Sans. Which Sans? Nobody knows~

Actually, everyone knows, now that he'd decided to come downstairs. It was Lust Sans, giggling with a fingerless-gloved hand covering his eyesockets. "o-oh my stars, that is the _best_ thing i've ever seen in this house..."

"OF COURSE YOU WOULD FIND IT AMUSING. IT'S HAPPENING TO EDGE." Naturally, Lust Papyrus was soon to follow, an expression of exasperated amusement upon his face. The two brothers, nicknamed Lust and Flush respectively, entered the room just after Omorose had absconded into the bathroom- now _that_ was a close call right there.

Seriff raised a brow, "...Do I even _want_ to know what you two are talking about?" He paused, before appearing behind them,  "Actually scratch that, yes, the hell I do."

“……..WHAT. WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TWO TALKING ABOUT? WHAT’S HAPPENING TO ME?” Edge immediately began asking, irritable and wary. And rightly so, since it was involving those two. The rest of the skelefam gave him pitying looks (besides the baby blasters who decided to wait for their new strange acquaintance by the bathroom door) despite not knowing what was going on either. There were a few light rustling noises behind the door while two more skeletons came strolling down the stairs as well, snickering to themselves.

“my delta, that is hilarious.” Space Sans, dubbed Orion in the household, began chortling as his Papyrus counterpart, named Pluto, shook his head in amusement.

"SERIOUSLY, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?"

The Fell Papyrus began stomping towards the stairs, but Orion quickly blocked his way. "wait here, just wait here, it'll be fantastic and probably even flattering."

Lust giggled again at that, going to join his alternate in escorting Edge back to the other side of the room. "i know it can be _hard_ for you to relax sometimes, but just try it out this once, okay?"

"...THIS BETTER BE FUCKING WORTH IT." Edge scowled at the staircase, tapping his booted foot impatiently on the hard floor as he waited...

And waited......

.........

"FUCK IT, I'M GOING TO-" A set of loud and rapid footsteps coming down the stairs cut him off, and the four- five?- skeletons that were aware of what was about to happen grinned to each other.

"Behold! I am the Great and Terrible Edge! Fear me when you hear my approach, cower beneath my very gaze!"

Meraki burst through the doorway to the stairs, wearing a pair of Edge's boots, gloves, and one of his many scarves. Surprisingly, the bright red additions to her usual chocolate-brown pants and black leather tank top looked quite nice... almost as good on her as they looked on Edge himself. And they fit perfectly- ah, the perks of being able to change one's shape.

...she had stored away much more stolen clothing in her dimensional boxes. This was merely a clever ruse to throw off suspicion, one which only Seriff could see through due to having known the dragoness for so long. But did he care?

NOPE.

Not one bit.

The rustling noises turned into soft thuds in the bathroom as Meraki came bursting down the steps, the last two skeletons to inhabit the house known as Stretch and Syrup, snickering softly at the top of the staircase with Giant as they watched their rowdier counterpart stare her down with a blank expression.

….He didn’t know whether to be flattered or offended.

“Madame Meraki!” Heads turned as the door to the bathroom flew open, the excitable face of Omorose showing as she hopped out now clad in the crimson scarf, white t-shirt, and baggy jeans loaned to her by Edge and Seriff respectively, though understandably the latter two articles needed to be adjusted. “I believe there is a being trapped in a circular portal mounted against the wall of this room!”

………………Someone save this child.

“YOU… YOU MIGHT HAVE JUST… SEEN THE MIRROR.” Blue carefully explained.

“Mirror…?”

“IT SHOWS YOUR REFLECTION IMBECILE.” Razz sighed as though he was burdened with the weight of the world. “IT WAS YOURSELF YOU SAW.”

“…..That can’t be correct. That being’s hair was gray.”

“….yours _is_ gray, angel.” G spoke, his eye making contact with the others.

“…..Last time I checked, my various strands of dead cells and protein were as white as the Anti-void I took residence in.” The baby blasters moved to cling to her legs, staring up at her slightly disturbed expression. “I am unaware of what my eye color was before, but if you are correct, the hue is of a violet sort now.”

“IT IS, MISS OMOROSE.” Papyrus confirmed, and her confusion only deepened.

"Wow Omorose, that's a really nice scarf you have. It looks almost exactly like mine." Meraki blinked innocently, but a slow and wicked grin crossing her lips ruined the effect.

Nearby, Edge watched in silence, folding his arms as his sockets narrowed in contemplation. Lust was quick to toss out a joking line towards him- "careful sexy, don't think so hard that you hurt yourself-" but that went ignored in favor of his train of thought...

"...I'LL ALLOW IT."

Red muffled his laughter at the sight of a slightly red blush upon his brother's face, barely resisting the urge to tease him out of sheer loyalty... but Syrup had no such qualms. "looks like somebody's feeling a little _hot around the collar_. funny that, considering red's the one with the collar in that relationship."

Blueberry looked nothing less than disappointed at all the swearing and innuendo going on in this room. "HAVE ALL OF YOU FORGOTTEN THAT THERE ARE CHILDREN PRESENT!? HONESTLY."

Edge would not admit it… but Meraki didn’t look half bad in his clothing. And his scarf around Omorose’s neck was a pleasing sight.

But again. He’d be damned if he let anyone know that.

“Oh Madame, you look lovely-“

“SERIIIIIIIIIIIFF!!!!” Heads whipped back towards the stairs as a loud shout filed the air, and everyone merely saw the sight of a green blur shooting past them before a young human adult with brown hair and ultimately peeved expression tackled Seriff down. ”Do you have _any idea_ how worried I was?!?!”

“C-Chara, wait for me!!” A goat monster with lanky adult features with a rainbow scarf wrapped his neck bleated as he rushed down the stairs after the human.

"Oh," Seriff hummed as he was tackled. "Hey Chara." He looked to the side. "Judging by you freakin' out. I'd say you were pretty worried."

Her grin widening slightly at the display, Meraki stood up straight and bowed in a grand gesture, still emulating her inner Edge as she did so. "Not to worry, Chara, he was with me most of the time he was out and about. Perfectly safe and sound."

Because hanging out with a Dragon was the epitome of safety. Yep. Totally and completely safe. No hazards whatsoever.

Chara gave an inhuman screech of displeasure as Asriel pulled them off with an exasperated look, and smiled nervously down at Seriff. He knew his relative’s pain; Chara always babied him too. “Glad you’re safe Seriff.”

Omorose was watching the interaction curiously, before looking down at the Baby-blasters as they began pulling on her clothes to lead her to the nearby couch. She followed them along with no complaint, unaware of the many sockets watching her. But Sans quickly piped up.

“a’ight, uh… since everyone’s down here now.” Getting everyone’s attention, he gestured to the gray haired woman who was now being roped into a game of Patty-cake by Pup. “this is Omorose, she’s the one who caused the disturbance in reality. now, she’s not dangerous-“ He quickly clarified in response to some of the building magic he could sense from those not yet informed. “she ended up ‘ere by accident she said. dunno how, but she did.”

“uh-huh…” Honey mumbled, unconvinced despite seeing her making the baby-bones giggle with her clueless antics. “and what exactly did the accident consist of?”

“hell if i know. nobody asked her what it was like.”

Meraki spoke up cheerfully, moving over to sit on the couches as well. While normally she would slouch, something about the accessories she was wearing made her want to sit up straight, and as such, she did so. "She fell flat out of the sky into my arms, so my educated guess is a portal!"

Red snorted in a mixture of derision and amusement, casting his red eyelights upon the dragoness. "educated? doll, any one of us could figure out that it was a portal from that info. pure fuckin' common sense."

"ACTUALLY, RED, IT WOULD TAKE AT LEAST _SOME_ KNOWLEDGE OF MULTIVERSE THEORY TO DEDUCE SUCH A THING. IF I DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT THIS SORT OF THING BEFOREHAND, I WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO FIGURE IT OUT FOR SOME TIME." Hey, at least Blueberry stood up for the dragoness! Yay!

"that's cuz you're basically a papyrus. you're stupider than us."

.....

...............

..........

It was at that moment that Red knew... he fucked up. Meraki quickly covered the ears the two babyblasters figuring that they didn't need to hear whatever chaos ensued.

"EXCUSE ME ASSHOLE-" "That was kinda mean-" "WE PAPYRUSES ARE NOT STUPID-" "wow, i'm crushed-" "FUCKING SAY THAT TO MY FACE-" Several Papyruses and Papyrus equivalents spoke up all at once, displeased with this careless assessment of Red's. But it seemed like the most upset was Blueberry... he looked like he was about ready to cry.

"JUST BECAUSE I AM NOT LAZY LIKE YOU DOESN'T MAKE ME ANY LESS A SANS! MY NAME IS SANS, I LIKE TASTEFUL JOKES AND PUNS JUST AS MUCH AS THE NEXT OF YOU, AND I EVEN USED TO RUN A HOTDOG STAND! BUT NONE OF YOU EVER BOTHERED TO GET TO KNOW ME, SO JUST, JUST, FUCK OFF!"

_Holy shit._

Blueberry swiftly left the room, heading into the kitchen to calm himself down. This left Red to stare at the other offended Papyrus types, and- oh boy. Even the other Sans types were displeased.

"...whoops."

"YOU FUCKING IDIOT. GO GET THE MUZZLE FROM MY ROOM. YOU'RE TO WEAR IT FOR THE REST OF THE DAY." Edge pointed towards the stairs, his sockets narrowed in a glare of displeasure.

...it was at that moment that Meraki removed the spoken-of muzzle from her dimensional box, and held it out towards Red. "Here ya go."

Why did she have the muzzle? Nobody knows~

Omorose, however… was not pleased by this development.

Now, you may call her stupid or naive for her inability to understand the world she had found herself in, and that could be a fair assessment depending on how you looked at it. She didn’t even truly know emotions that well due to her isolation.

But, she could read magic. She could understand the triggers and sympathize with emotions despite never having really felt them.

And she could sense Blueberry was hurt.

...She didn’t take kindly to the fact that Blueberry had his feelings hurt due to her arrival.

The sweet and innocent anomaly grasped the muzzle Meraki had procured and stood, before strolling her way towards the kitchen, none-too-gently shoving the muzzle into Red’s face along the way.

“One thing I have learned is that words may possibly have many meanings. Intelligence is one of those words. There are many forms of intelligence. You regard intelligence a certain way, and this is why you have placed yourself into the situation that you have on your hands now. A foolish miscalculation on your part.”

She stared with a blank face— the expression of anger for her, had she but known it— down at the shocked expression Red was pointing up at her, before she passed a bunch of shocked (and impressed) beings as she continued to her destination.

She was going to cheer Blueberry back up. She didn’t know how to do that, but she would make it happen.

Seriff watched as absolute chaos ensued afterwards. Going quiet at Blueberry's words, he watched as Omorose left after him before speaking up, "I agree with them." He spoke, narrowing his eyes at the others, "You treat others differently because they don't fit under your criteria of that label they wear. You treat Blue like he's nothing but another Papyrus because he doesn't act like a Sans. You treat me like I'm inexperienced merely because I'm younger and therefore 'weak', when in actuality I can most likely level this place and all of you to the ground. Just ask Error." He stood up from his leaning position, his eyes glowing eerily, as he went from 'casual gentleman' to 'threatening motherfucker'.

"Actually, that's another thing I wanna talk about. You treat Error like shit merely because he's 'a destroyer of worlds.' While that is what he is, it's unfair to invite him to a place and refuse to acknowledge him just because you're salty at him for everything he did. How cruel is that? To invite a man into a place meant to be his home and then treat him like garbage? He maybe the destroyer, but he still has emotions. Unlike that 90's piece of fucking shit over there." He jerked a thumb in Fresh's direction, "The guy is literally playing you all for fools considering he has no emotions and yet you _still_ treat him better than some of the others and I."

His eyelights disappeared, "You guys are literally abusing us by treating us differently merely because we don't 'hold up to your standards.' Because we aren't fucking 'normal' in your eyes. It may not be physical, but hell if it means it doesn't hurt"  


He then turned, his usual lazy yet elegant posture back, "I'm going after Omorose and Blueberry. Merely because it disgusts me to look at half the majority of you. G'Day."

Aussie Child. Out. _-Mic Drop-_

As the room went deadly silent, Meraki slowly tilted her head to the side before jerking a red-gloved thumb towards Fresh, wondering just when the neon-clothed being with the actually pretty cool shades arrived. "...When did he get here?"

The 90's nightmare spoke up for himself, a wide smile upon his skull. "I've been here all along, radical sistah! When the _broseriff_ came into the kitchen and popped up some fresh kernels of buttery goodness, I came back out here with him!"

"...can I have your sunglasses?"

"Nope."

"..."

Sans didn't quite like the look that was forming upon Meraki's face, so he decided to intervene before it was too late ~~to apologize~~.  "okay, evidently we need to rethink our way of life a bit... but first we gotta take care of this anomaly problem. and no, killing her is not an option."

A pointed stare was sent Raspberry's way, and he narrowed his sockets in displeasure. "I'M INSULTED YOU'D INSINUATE THAT SUCH A THING EVER EVEN ENTERED MY THOUGHTS."

"...right. well, we can't solve anything while said anomaly is absent. anyone wanna go get her?"

Meraki hopped up and sauntered off towards the kitchen, pausing to tighten the muzzle on Red's skull along the way, before moving along past Fresh and patting his hoodie. "That's cool bro, I understand that you don't wanna part with such cool shades."

Spinning around to face the others, brushing up slightly against the neon-clothed skeleton in an almost clumsy manner, she sent finger guns towards the others and grinned. "I'll see what's up with these peeps, you stay cool out here." With that, she spun almost clumsily against Fresh again, and sauntered off into the kitchen.

...the soulless skeleton seemed indifferent to the suggestive stares that Lust and Flush were aiming towards him and the dragoness.

* * *

 

Meanwhile, in the kitchen…

Omorose would admit she was a bit at a loss this moment, standing in the doorway of the kitchen as she watched the normally bubbly Blueberry shuffle around the kitchen with proverbial storm clouds above his skull. She had no idea what she was doing.

She was, how you would say… Nervous.

But she would not be deterred! She would help the being that had been rather generous and kind to her. It was the right thing to do, of course.

“….Mister Blue?”

The dark-socketed look he pointed at her at hearing his name would have struck fear into the hearts of many… just not her. Upon realizing it was just the anomaly though, the blue circles that were his eye-lights reappeared, minus the stars. “Oh…. Hello Miss Omorose. I am about to cook my World-Famous Tacos. Would you like to help?”

Her head tilted forward as she took a few steps further inside.

“You are… quieter. I sense your upset.” He flinched a bit as he turned away to take a few ingredients out of the refrigerator.

“I’m fine.”

“I do not find much truth in your statement-“

“I SAID I’M FINE!” The woman drew back slightly in surprise as he turned with a yell, locking gazes with his glare before watching him hesitate and hang his head. “…Sorry. I didn’t mean to shout.”

Omorose glanced back as Seriff strolled on in, gauging the situation, and settled by the far counter as he gave an encouraging jerk of his head. At that, she stepped forward and placed a hand on Blue’s shoulder. He flinched, but lifted his head a bit in order for her to see the small tears gathering at the corner of his sockets. She reached out to curiously rub them away.

“Why are you precipitating?” He couldn’t help but blink slightly at her wording, and let out a soft bark of a laugh in his shock.

“What was said was mean.”

“T’was callous, yes.” She nodded, a small frown marring her pretty face. “However, his rude rhetoric is not worth your precipitation.” Just the weird wording again made him giggle, and he gave her a small smile in response. “Please, do feel better?”

“I-It's not that easy… B-But a hUG WOULD HELP.”

Cue the perplexed blink. “A… A hug?”

“YES. A HUG!” After staring up at Omorose for a moment or two, it finally hit him. “YOU… YOU’VE NEVER HAD A HUG BEFORE.”

“I suppose not.”

“THAT MUST BE RECTIFIED IMMEDIATELY!” Throwing the head of lettuce he had in his hands onto the counter, he whirled around to wrap his arms around her torso.

………..

“U-Um…”

Seriff looked amused form his spot before walking over and plopping onto the ground in a sitting position so he was of the same height as Blue. "You wrap you hands 'round him Sheila. Like this." He then joined the small group hug by slinging an arm around Blueberry's shoulder. "'Cept you do it with both hands, like Blue 'ere."

“Oh…” Omorose glanced between the two skeletons in slight hesitation before slowly wrapping her arms around Blueberry’s form, a strange warmth she had never felt before stirring in her chest as he lifted his head to grin happily up at her.

“YOUR FIRST HUG IS MAGNIFICENT! IT SHALL ONLY GET BETTER WITH PRACTICE! HOW DO YOU FEEL?”

“….I believe this is a form of excitement. It is a pleasant feeling, I’m gathering.”

A camera click from just inside the doorway could be heard, capturing the heartfelt group hug for eternity. Meraki approached afterwards, pocketing her phone and smiling at the three. "Don't worry Beautiful, I've captured the moment in crisp detail, and I will send it to you once you have a phone as lovely as my own. As for Seriff and Blue, I'll send it to you later."

She then glanced at the counter, and noticed the ingredients for tacos set out upon it. The dragoness tried to resist snagging one for a small sampling, yet even though she had just eaten a relatively large container of cold spaghetti with questionable health quality, she failed. One lettuce leaf was in her mouth in seconds, along with a handful of shredded cheese. The raw meat was, shockingly, untouched for now.

"...the ingredients are quite fresh. Perfect for tacos. I approve of your culinary standards, Blueberry."

Omorose's head turned to the side as she heard the click, and an involuntary smile took her lips as she watched her snag some food, causing Blue to react.

“MISS MERAKI, AT LEAST WAIT FOR THE FOOD TO BE COOKED!”

Seriff waited until Blue was thoroughly distracted with Meraki to notice the taller skeleton sneak some of the raw meat and quickly ate it before the other could note the missing beef. And as they helped Blue make his tacos, many more quick bites were stealthily acquired by the two... It was a delicious way to pass the time, that was certain.


	4. Oh Look, It's A Wild Plot Device.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ulti: »w» I am a pleased Ult. Ulti ish pleased. Also funny thing, I actually don't like tacos xD  
> Opti: ....Neither does Shadow. 0-0 I'm surrounded by weirdos.

"MISS MERAKI, I DON'T QUITE THINK THAT MANY TACOS ARE SAFE FOR CONSUMPTION. NOR THOSE PARTICULAR TOPPINGS."

Blueberry eyed the large tray that the dragoness had claimed for herself, making a mental note of the various... erm... interesting toppings she had added. Several notable mentions were glitter, and hot sauce, and mayonnaise, and... glass? It seemed that she was taking the dietary suggestions of several Papyruses and Sanses, whether innocently recommended or given with malevolent intent, with no care as to whether they were healthy or not.

...This could have disastrous consequences, if not halted.

Omorose quietly sat beside her with her own plate, curiously poking at the taco that she had right in front of her. There was no dinner table in the house big enough to hold everyone that took residence at the mansion, so everyone was sitting around the living room with their plates of food. She watched with an intent expression as everyone ate, then glanced back down at her innocent looking food with a slightly lost expression. Blueberry hadn’t left her side since they left the kitchen, which was causing Honey to give her a suspicious look but she didn’t seem to mind, if notice at all. The BabyBlasters were curled up by her feet too, ravenously downing their food with a vengeance.

Pup seemed to notice her hesitation. “Are you not hungry Miss?”

“I’ve… never felt hunger, small monster child. Or at least… I cannot recall if I have ever had such cravings.” She continued to poke at her food with a small frown. “I am at a loss at what to do…”

Seriff sighed, taking a large bite out of his taco. Eugh. He'll never understand the big deal bout Mexican food. "Pup, ya know how Error doesn't really need to eat cause he's from the Anti-Void? Omorose is like him in that regard, only with a better attitude adjustment." He then looked to the side, "And, ya know, skin..."

"Sexy skin." Meraki supplied a helpful description, a wide grin upon her face. "Beautiful, sexy skin that shimmers like the finest of woven silk."

With that, a deadly taco was promptly devoured, and the dragoness acquired the most interesting expression of discomfort upon her face.

"pffft, i can't believe she fuckin' ate it!" Red certainly found this amusing, no doubt perceiving the expression as one of pain. This was a reasonable assumption, of course- glass was deadly to most species with fleshy digestive systems- but Meraki was a dragon. Much like her reptilian cousins, alligators and crocodiles in particular, her stomach was capable of digesting steel nails. This expression was not one of pain, but of disgust.

"A word to the wise for all who gather here... Mayonnaise, cinnamon, and lettuce do not make a pleasant combination on the taste buds."

At the looks of absolute disbelief, Seriff gained an amused expression, "She is a dragon you guys. Hell, might have swallowed a knight in shining armor or two back when she was a kid."

“AND ISN’T THAT MUZZLE TO KEEP YOU FROM BARKING?” Blueberry snapped at Red, causing a few people to choke on their food (and Raspberry to flash a smirk of pride) before lightly patting Meraki’s back in sympathy. The Lust bros merely nodded in agreement to Meraki at Omorose’s physical beauty.

"Bjork bjork."

"SHUT UP SERIFF."

"I refoose."

Smiling fondly at the reminder of her childhood, Meraki nodded, leaning into Blueberry's sympathetic pats with a sly look in her eyes. "Indeed. One time there was a knight who actually tried to steal the original copy of The Iliad from me, along with the sword of Alexander the Great that I'd inherited from my mother's hoard. His mistake was attempting to slay me on the way out."

"Error owes me 50G..." Seriff muttered off to the side, referring to a bet that the glitch-lord had made in his belief that Meraki was too young to have eaten knights.

The dragoness then ate another taco, this one with different toppings, but no less strange ones. Here came the glitter. "Interesting texture. The syrup blends nicely with the butterscotch but contrasts the somewhat tangy flavoring of the meat. The glitter goes nicely with the meat though."

“MY GOD…” Edge groaned as he debated on whether to be impressed or disgusted with Meraki’s iron gut, while Papyrus, Syrup, and Asriel showed varying expressions of their pleasure. Meanwhile, the BabyBlasters were attempting to be big kids and show the clueless Anti-Void creature how to eat.

It was adorable.

“Okay Mo-Mo,” Kit began with a smile, “You pick up the taco like this… and open your mouth like this…” He began to demonstrate, picking up his food and gesturing for his brother to open his mouth so he could lift the food to it. “Then when you have a bit of it in your mouth, you bite down,” With Omorose watching intently, Pup caught on and then bit a piece of the food off before chewing and swallowing. “And then chew and swallow! See? Easy!”

The place went quiet as all sockets and eyes turned to Omorose, who had hummed before picking up her own food. Thankfully for her, there was nothing considered dangerous or weird in it; but after deliberating for a moment or two, she opened her mouth and bit down into the food, chewing slowly and swallowing.

She went still and quiet before her face brightened in obvious delight, sparkles bouncing around in her eyes and around her face as she released a sound of pleasure. “Mmmm~!!”

With the click of a phone camera going off, the moment was saved forever, and Meraki made an idle request as she appraised the photo.

"Seriff, can you teleport back to my cave and grab the shiny silver suitcase by the cherrywood table? The one with gold lettering that spells out my name? I've really gotta get a thing for Beautiful, here, and I just remembered that it's in that suitcase." There was a quick warp-like sound before Seriff reappeared right in front of her with said suitcase.

"Plop," Seriff replied, plopping the suitcase down next to Meraki.

"Danke chu~" The tray of tacos in her lap was set onto the coffee table before them, and the suitcase pulled up in its place. Slowly, so slowly, the case was opened, and a ray of Golden Treasure Light™ streamed forth from its contents...

Actually, that was just the yellow and orange backgrounds of many phones lighting up simultaneously as the suitcase was opened. How the phones had been rigged to turn on at the exact moment the case was opened, nobody but Meraki knew, but it was just a little something that brought some light to her days.

Of course, there was one important question that had to be asked, and Raspberry was the lucky skeleton who'd decided to ask it. "...WHY THE _FUNK_ DO YOU HAVE DOZENS UPON DOZENS OF CELL PHONES IN THAT SUITCASE?"

Meraki found the verbal censorship to be quite amusing and promptly spoke with as many swears as she could think of. "This sweet _shizzle_ was acquired from many _funkin'_ _radholes_ through time. It's a _funkin'_ nice collection, huh?"

"None of that colorful lingo in here brah, think of the kiddos sitting right there!"

"Behold, as all the _funks_ I don't give fly away into the distance~"

Seriff raised a brow at his neon-clad counterpart. "Uh, Fresh," he started, "You can't live in a house with an Aussie, and expect to not hear any 'colorful lingo.' I mean at this point, _cutie_ has replaced the word Mate in the Australian dictionary."

He paused, and then narrowed his eyes, "I really hate that _dang funkin'_ censor of yours."

_Back to Omorose and the children, however..._

“I knew you could do it~! I believed in you from the very beginning!” Pup cheered in glee, jumping to wrap Omorose up in a big hug which she tenderly returned as Kit clapped in a congratulatory manner. Many of those present were taken by her expression of bliss (the lust bros were automatically thinking of sinful ways they could make that expression) and Chara was seriously considering on taking in another sibling.

“SUCH A PASSIONATE EXPRESSION! I HAVE NEVER SEEN SUCH A BRIGHT LOOK OF JOY BEFORE!” Blueberry gushed, his hands pressed against his cheeks, and that seemed to snap Omorose out of her blissful stupor.

“Joy… a great feeling of pleasure or happiness. Feeling- an emotional state or reaction… I… I have emotions? I am… feeling…?” She asked aloud, troubled. Blueberry stopped short, as did most of those present, before he quietly inquired about her words.

“YOU’VE… YOU’VE NEVER FELT HAPPINESS BEFORE?”

“…I am… not sure?” Omorose replied, keeping her arms around Pup, who giggled as Kit squirmed into the hold too. She didn’t want to let go just yet; ‘hugs’ felt… nice to her. The girl was touch starved, had she but known it. “By definition, events, things, and beings invoke… Emotions, yes? In the Anti-Void, there are no such things… There were no triggers present to inflict these ‘feelings’ so I… am unaware of how these emotions… _feel._ ”

Perhaps only a few people saw how Fresh’s grin twitched upwards _juuuuust_ a bit. And perhaps one muttered something very close to,  "I ship it."

"Well Beautiful, I shall do my best to show you the vast world of emotions, lovely, and my first step towards doing so is..."

Meraki stared into the suitcase, and after rummaging through it for several moments, pulled out one particular phone with a satisfied smirk. The case was divided evenly down the middle, with one side being silver and the other side being gold; over both halves was a lovely swirling design of bronze. This was perfect.

"...to give you this! One of my own models, dual-platforming both monster and human operating systems. Behold, acquire, and enjoy." She handed over the phone to Omorose, closing the suitcase and storing it within the dimension box of her own phone. That done, the tray of tacos was returned to its rightful place upon her lap, and she promptly consumed another interestingly topped specimen.

Sans watched on with a furrowed brow ridge for a bit before turning to look at Fresh, only to see that… He wasn’t where he was before.

“Ayyyyy, my radtastic dudette! Did I hear ya right when ya said ya ain’t got none of those wacky emotes in yer system?” Sans whipped his skull back to Omorose to see her attention taken by the 90s skeleton that was suddenly floating upside down, face to face with the anomaly herself. She had been fiddling around with the phone she had been given but looked up at hearing the voice literally right beside her.

She stared for a bit until answering. “I do not know… I have not… experienced them, per say. I am unaware if I can, or if I have the capacity to, the ability is limited to a degree…”

“No foolin’! Well my fine sistah, neither have I!”

“Intriguing! I am not alone in this situation!”

“i’m not likin’ this…” Honey muttered, glancing between the two of them.

"THE PROBABILITY OF THIS INNOCENT VOID-DWELLER FALLING ASTRAY FROM THE PATH OF THE GOOD IS GRADUALLY INCREASING. WE MUST PROVIDE A SUITABLE COUNTERBALANCE." Papyrus agreed with his alternate's assessment, in so many words.

"Naaaah, don't worry guys, I got this." Meraki sat back and ate another taco, this one covered in all the previous toppings, as well as several more that probably shouldn't be used upon food at all. This action did nothing to discourage Omorose's budding friendship... more than one skeleton facepalmed at this.

"Give her a hug," Seriff said from his favorite chair. "That should counteract it... or whatever. I dunno."

The children seemed to be getting drowsy in Omorose’s arms, slowly slipping off to sleep as she and Fresh ignored the conversation around them for each other. Blueberry seemed displeased with this development. He immediately hugged Omorose to himself at Seriff’s suggestion, lightly glaring at the neon-clad being over her shoulder but was ignored by the bright skelly.

“So, mah fellow apathetic homegirl, since ya reign from the bright whiteness I’m guessin’ touch is new to ya too, yeah?” At her quick nod, his grin widened. “Rad! Means I can show ya this bangin’ thing that I just learned maself!”

“Ah, new information I would be delighted to know! What i- _Mmph!"_

Jaws dropped. People gasped. Papyruses’ eyes began to bulge out of their skulls in shock.

 

Can you guess what Fresh did?

 

…..If you said grabbed her by the cheeks and kissed her full on the mouth, you’d be absolutely right.

 

"Called it!" Seriff shouted aloud.

A sudden chill swept through the room as Meraki stood up, placing her tray on the coffee table again and walking around to stand beside the two kissing beings. Carefully, she removed the dozing BabyBlasters from the target radius and set them down neatly where she had been seated previously... And then, moving as smoothly as melted butter on bread, she slid in between the neon-clad skeleton and her charge to separate them.

"Heyyyyyyy... buddy... friend... new pal of mine... I believe that it would be wise for you to explain your actions before doing them. Particularly when it comes to someone who has no idea what most of universal existence is like. Just a little word of advice."

Reaching over to take a nice, threatening bite of a taco with lots of sharp teeth being shown- this time not eating said taco entirely in one bite- the dragoness stood upright with a friendly smile. Somehow, the clothing she'd stolen from Edge made her appear more threatening, particularly when she grinned like that... it was kinda hot, if the blushes on the skulls of the Lust brothers indicated anything.

"Ya see, there's this little thing called consent. Kinda important when it comes to amorous physical interaction with others- kisses being one such interaction. M'kay?"

Evidently, Meraki didn't approve of the ship. At least, not right now; not with that being the first action of the parasite towards the innocent void-child she'd somehow adopted as her own along the way. When had she done that? Probably within the first ten seconds of meeting the girl.

Fresh merely grinned at the threatening woman and gave a thumbs up to Meraki in an understanding way. Of course, Fresh did this all the time to people, not exactly understanding the romantic aspect of it seeing as he had no understanding of emotions other than anger, fear, and pain but… Okay.

Some of the others weren’t so cool about this situation though.

Fresh had to teleport in order to dodge a few sharp bones which, ironically enough, belonged to Razz. “HAVE YOU NO SHAME YOU WRETCH?!?! SHE CAN’T EVEN COMPREHEND WHAT YOU JUST FORCED ON HER!!”

“HE KISSED HER. HE LITERALLY JUST… KISSED HER.” Blueberry was low-key salty that his hug got one-upped by an unfeeling parasite, but you could hardly tell from his utterly blank expression as he hugged the clueless Omorose closer to himself. “ALL IN FAVOR OF REVOKING HIS VOID-CHILD INTERACTION PRIVILEGES, SAY AYE.”

"Mmm... I don't know... I think it's kinda cute." Seriff hummed, his taco mysteriously gone. (He couldn't eat anymore. He threw it into a volcano via shortcut.) "I mean, consent is a thing that exists and must be enforced, but if he asked for permission then it would be a bit better."

"...eh. Her first kiss is now taken forever. No point crying over spilled milk." Meraki immediately relaxed, sitting beside the innocent girl on the side opposite to Blueberry. "From this point on, as long as Fresh asks permission, I'm cool with it. But if he doesn't, then I'm totally down to fight for her honor."

Turning her attention to Omorose, the dragoness tilted her head to observe the girl's expressions and ate the remainder of her taco. "So, how was the kiss?"

Blueberry was still being pouty about all of this but felt a bit better when Omorose merely tilted her head to the side with an ultimately perplexed expression and spoke quietly as she prodded at her lips with a finger.

“That was a… kiss? I am unsure how to feel about said action… and you all seem to have an aversion to what has occurred… I am confused.” She continued to tap at her lips, awed by the crazy tingly feeling running through them. The stimulation was off the charts! “I think I might need to experience it another time before formulating a solid opinion.”

 **“NO!”** Blueberry, Edge, and Raspberry all shouted in unison, making Orion and the Lust Bros snicker giddily to themselves. They were all thinking the same thing.

_They were so triggered right now._

"Did you three become machine guns? Because you seem pretty _triggered._ " Three sets of glares were pointed towards Seriff, accompanied by two middle fingers.

"Kisses are generally a show of affection that you give to people you care about. For example, people kiss other people to show they appreciate them in a platonic sense, and lovers kiss each other to show that they love each other in a romantic sense. The kiss you experienced was more of a platonic one, because the two of you don't have romantic feelings for each other. If you have further questions on platonic and romantic love, I suggest you ask Papyrus."

"wait, what?" Sans did a double take at the implications of Meraki's statement, narrowing his sockets at the dragoness. He didn't quite appreciate the thought of his bro being less innocent than he seemed... stars, the chaos that could ensue from such a thing!

“OH BROTHER, HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN ALREADY?” Papyrus spoke in a chastising tone, shaking his skull disapprovingly. “ASIDE FROM SERIFF, I AM THE BEST MATCHMAKER AND WINGMAN!”

Seriff snapped his fingers, and pointed, "Ayyy~"

"...right." Welp, it looks as though a bullet was dodged right there! Honestly, Classic Sans needed to relax a little more.

“um… aren’t we kinda getting off track here?” Honey seemed to be extremely done with all the nonsense, all the while Fresh had pulled a little booklet out of nowhere and seemed to be writing something down. “aren’t we supposed to be finding out exactly how this… girl,” he seemed to struggle a bit there, “somehow tore a fabric in reality and ended up here… _accidentally?_ “

"Weird science shit." the Aussie child supplied, "Done. Did it. Stuff explained. Can I leave now?"

Several clacking facepalms rang out as bone met bone, along with a few amused or exasperated chuckles. Fortunately, Syrup was willing to explain it. "i mean, that explanation works, but we need details. the cut and dry isn't gonna work here."

Omorose listened quietly as they theorized before deciding to speak. "My magic allowed me to make the portal... In the Anti-Void, I often had nothing to do other than read the Dictionary of Knowledge, so I experimented with magic. The longer I stayed in the Anti-Void, the more I became aware of my being, and my magic grew in strength. Simply laying there feeling magic building up in my body had a... disturbing sensation. I am unaware of my exact measurements when it happened, but eventually the magic reached insurmountable levels, it caused something of an explosion when it happened, and I was.... knocked unconscious? I believe that is the phrase. I received this unpleasant sensation over my skin when I awoke for my ignorance."

She nibbled on her lip as she twitched, remembering how itchy she was for many breaths. "I instantly learned to discharge any building magic after said experience and realized there were... differences to the substance each time."

Red raised a hand, the muzzle still on his face, as though he were a child in a classroom asking for permission to speak. Evidently, he was still salty about Blueberry's earlier sass. Several choice hand signs being made throughout the conversation supported this theory... heh.

Blueberry looked extremely curious, and rose a brow as he saw Red raise his hand. Making eye contact with Edge, the taller gave a single nod before the skeleton moved to remove the muzzle from his insensitive counterpart.

"i still strongly suggest that we kill 'er-" As the muzzle was shoved back towards his face, Red quickly twisted out of the way, growling lowly in irritation as he finished what he was saying. "-BUT we could also keep 'er under observation fer a while. s'not like she has a home 'ere anyways."

Meraki smiled, cutting in with a pleasant pat to the top of Red's skull. "I like the latter you. The one that _doesn't_ vote to kill people. Also I am letting you guys know that if Omorose is staying here, so am I."

"Good! I was gonna suggest it anyway. If you didn't well..." Seriff looked to the side, "I always have a few more tricks up my sleeve when it comes to escaping."

"I..." Heads turned to look at Omorose, and eyes widened at her lost and innocent expression. "I... have to perish...? If I'm too much of a disturbance...?" Omorose asked in a soft, small voice; she didn't seem particularly bothered by this idea but... She wasn't accepting of it either. The Void creature was simply perplexed and concerned by the prospect. But Blueberry and Papyrus were quick to dissent.

"NO NO, OF COURSE NOT MISS OMOROSE!"

"IT WILL BE LIKE... A GIGANTIC SLEEPOVER!" Papyrus interjected, moving to swoop the girl up in a hug. "EVERYONE CAN BE A GOOD PERSON IF THEY TRY, AND YOU'RE STARTING COMPLETELY FRESH! YOU COULD EVEN BE THE MOST MORAL PERSON IN THE UNIVERSE!"

"I AGREE!" Pluto cheered, nodding as well.

"yeah, that's all sweet and good, but you've yet to tell us darlin'," Syrup interjected, really wanting some sugar right now. "what kinda magic did ya use to make that portal? since it's apparently really strong."

"I do not know."

.............

"wat."

"Okay... Okay... I just have one thing to ask..." Seriff said, holding up his hand before getting up. He inhaled deeply before throwing his one hand up in protest and yelled, **"IF THE SHEILA BLOODY DOESN'T KNOW ANYTHIN' OTHER THAN WHAT WAS GIVEN TO HER IN A DICTIONARY, WHY THE _HECK_ ARE YOU ASKING QUESTIONS SHE _FUNKING_ WON'T KNOW THE ANSWER TO??!!!"**

Pausing, his eyes slowly scanned over the others before he lowered his hand in a gesture, "Just askin'." He then sat down, smoking his vape that once again appeared from nowhere.

"Logic." Meraki applauded Seriff's counter-question, leaning into the back of the couch she and Omorose and Blueberry were on. The tray of many deadly tacos was empty, its contents completely devoured, and Meraki was a satisfied dragoness.

"To be fair, you guys can be a bit... _boneheaded_."

"Although it is rather sad when a 17 year old Aussie skeleton whose vocabulary could rival a _funking_ sailor, who also has never really been into the science of timelines and all that _shizzle_ has more common sense than... well a room full of _dang_ scientists." Seriff hummed, taking a drag from his blue raspberry goodness.

………….

He had a point.

“okay, yeah, you’re right.” Orion conceded, nodding in defeat. “but… we need some details even so. omorose, was it?”

Having heard her name, Omorose’s head perked up from her cradles position in Papyrus’ arms and turned to the spacey skelly that was now approaching in a friendly manner. “ya said earlier that you practiced magic when ya got bored, right? were ya doing that when you made that portal?”

She nodded with a smile. “Yes! I am aware that different colored magic yields different effects for the bearer, like the Vermillion magic that I had manipulated earlier caused my maximum speed to increase. But I also observed that mixing basic colored magic and making a new advanced color with them will cause a new, unobserved power to come into fruition!” She explained with a chirp, seeing the various scientists of the room come to attention. “I had nothing to record the various reactions of the blending colors, but I memorized them and experimented with each different hue. And then, before this venture, I had a thought!” She threw her hands up in her excitement, animated with her explanation. _“‘What will happen if I blend all colors that I have ever discovered together?’”_

Her bright smile was the response to all of the blank and astonished expressions pointed towards her. “And apparently, it makes an extremely large portal that leads to other dimensions!”

……………………………

“so…..” Sans began, trying to wrap his metaphorical mind around this concept. “you made… a rip in the fabric of reality with pure brute magical strength… and no training whatsoever?”

"So basically..." Seriff started but was quickly interrupted.

"seriff, if you say weird science _shiz_... i will hit you."

".....So basically.... crazy void stuff."

In regards to the question that had been asked of her, Omorose’s head tilted cutely to the side. “What is ‘training’?”

………………………………….......................

“I CALL DIBS ON TRAINING HER!!” Blueberry immediately shouted out with glee.

"DI- _FUNK_!" Edge was just a split-second too late... rest in peace, dignity of skeletal edge-lord, rest in peace.

"It's not that substantial of a loss, in my opinion. Difficult training to the level that you bring it to is better for seasoned opponents. We do not yet know the skill level of Omorose yet; thus her first training session with a more careful and pleasant instructor would be beneficial." Giant made a good point, actually.

"in short, shuddup and wait yer turn." Aaaand Red's muzzle was primed and ready to be worn once more.

“WHICH ALSO MEANS THAT I CAN HELP!” Papyrus cheered in excitement as he placed Omorose back onto her feet.

“AND I AS WELL!” Pluto celebrated, while Raspberry snapped his fingers and grumbled mutinously. He was in the same boat as Edge.

“mmm, alright, so then… Omorose is gonna stay with us, with Meraki as her plus one, we’ll watch her, and train her how to use her magic, and hopefully that lowers the risk that she represents to the universes.” Sans laid down the law and watched as heads nodded around the room, albeit a few reluctantly.

"Awesome! I'm out." Seriff hopped from his seat and started walking toward the front door...

Aaaand promptly got grabbed by the back of his hoodie.

"MY APOLOGIES SERIFF, BUT WITH THE LATE HOUR, I BELIEVE IT WOULD BE BETTER TO HEAD UP THE STAIRS INSTEAD OF OUT THE FRONT DOOR. IT IS RATHER DARK OUTSIDE."

With that comment from Papyrus, several eyelights glanced at the clocks nearby, and the late hour was indeed noted. Sans scratched the back of his skull for a few moments, and spoke his thoughts in an idle manner, evidently thinking. "huh... guess i oughta show the girls to their room... that attic loft still cleared?"

The attic would be a nice place to have them. Being several stories up, that sort of height would discourage potential escapes through the windows... probably. The windows would also be too small for a full-sized dragon to climb through, so that worked out nicely. And hey, it'd just been renovated not that long ago to be an extra guest room for visiting alternates. Sweet.

"YES, IT'S CLEAR. I BELIEVE THE LADDER NEEDS TO BE OILED UP, BUT A FEW SQUEAKY HINGES NEVER HURT ANYBODY... WELL, ANYBODY THAT WASN'T A PENT-UP METTATON." Flush smirked to himself, receiving an awed look from his brother at the unexpected joke. It was clear that Lust was holding back from verbally displaying his pride.

“kay then, meeting adjourned. everyone welcome omorose and meraki; only attack them if they attack first, and don’t hurt them if the action is unwarranted.”


	5. It's a Beautiful... DAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYY!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ulti: *singing the chapter title loudly and off-key*  
> Opti: *Grins and bears it with a platonically fond look.*

_**BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BE-** SLAM!_

"CEASE THY UNHOLY SCREECHING, YE FOUL DEVICE OF MORNING DISCOMFORT!" An alarm clock found itself flying across the air, meeting its end at the moment of collision; its remains finding a new home upon the floor. The hand that threw it withdrew back into the small cave formed by the top bunk bed above it and the odd sheets wrapped around it, a grumpy dragoness returning to the darkness and silence of her previous state of being.

That poor clock... it was only doing its job... but who would set it to ten in the morning?

As though summoned by the destruction of the device, two small children burst into the room, giggling up a storm at the technological remains upon the floor. It was the BabyBlasters who were the culprits, it seemed, as they immediately went over to the bunk bed and began waking the two ladies sleeping upon it. "Mo-Mo! Mer! Wake up, wake up!"

_Grrrrrr..._

A child was snatched into the bottom bunk, where the dragoness roamed, and a burst of shrieked giggles could be heard from within.

Omorose, needing no sleep and not even managing to fall asleep in the first place, immediately popped her head over the top bunk’s edge, gazing at both the children and the twisted remains of the object that had been making such an unpleasant noise. A congenial smile took her lips at seeing the hand reach out and snatch Kit inside.

“Salutations small monster children! Why is it that we need to ‘wake up’ so you say?"

Pup excitedly waved at Omorose from his place on the floor, speaking over the giggles of his entrapped brother. "We're gonna go play, and the others told us we had to wait until ten to wake you guys up! Breakfast first! Then playing! Come on, let's save bro from the tickles first!"

“Understood!” Omorose climbed down from her bunk so she was beside Pup, and watched the furious movement behind the sheets before valiantly (or stupidly) jumping in to join the playful fray. Pup joined soon after, and somehow it turned into an all out tickle fest. Kit for some reason decided to tickle his brother to attempt to share the pain, and his brother cried foul before attempting to get revenge. Omorose watched on with a bright smile.

“This is entertaining.”

As Meraki continued tickling the babyblasters, both of which were now in her reach, her earlier grumpiness seemed to fade away. "The laughter of children is a much more acceptable way to start the morning than the beeping of alarm clocks."

"Mercy! We give! We gi-i-i-ive!" At the plea of Kit and with a few more tired giggles, the children were released from their ticklish imprisonment, and they spent a few minutes recovering from the excitement. Of course, the second they were even half breathing normally again, Pup was practically on top of Omorose with excitement, taking hold of her arm to tug her out of the bunk.

"C'mon! Bro, get Mer!"

"Nah, I think I'm gonna relax right here now."

"Noooo! Kit, don't nap noooow!"

"I can feel my sockets closing. Sleep is calling my name."

"I'm not sleep, I'm your brother!"

With the Void-being trapped underneath Pup, she blinked curiously at Kit’s sudden ‘fatigue’ not paying attention to Pup’s fingers twitching so close to her sides in his irritation until—

“Eeeeek!” She released a loud involuntary squeal at the sudden ticklish feeling on her sides, making the kids jump in shock. Silence fell as they turned to look at her in surprise, and even she clamped a hand over her mouth, wondering where the sound came from.

“I… I apologize, I do not know why that sound came from my mouth.” The children stared for a bit longer, Pup looking down at where his hands were before a mischievous grin curled over his face. “…..Your sudden expression worries me.”

"Run, Beautiful, run and don't look ba-ghgk!" Kit used his 'fatigue' to his advantage, silencing Meraki by flopping down on her face and 'laying' there. (Read: hugging as tightly as possible to prevent the warning from being completed.) The dragoness quickly signaled defeat, going limp and sliding off the bed with the smaller skeleton child giggling in devious glee from his perch.

Pup took that cue to promptly turn the tides of the tickle war in his favor, introducing Omorose to the delight that was involuntary physical movement and laughter brought about by another.

Attracted by the loud shrieks of laughter that followed, G was watching from the doorway, an expression of utter amusement upon his skull. Said laughter were utterly loud and unrestrained. It would be a surprise if no one else in the entire mansion heard it at all. Omorose was practically in tears by this point, squirming and trying to avoid the little devious fingers ravaging her sides so much that she fell off the bed. Attempting to catch her breath, her eyes widened as she spotted Pup trying to follow her with hands poised, and shot up with a shriek of joyful denial before booking it out the room, a quick "Hello Mister G!" behind her as she went.

"Morning, doll. Heh... things are definitely gonna be more interesting around here for a while."

G moved out of the way as Pup zoomed on by after the runaway Omorose, and watched with slowly growing amusement as the effectively-blinded Meraki tried to follow. "Need any help there?"

"Nope, nah, I'm a dragon, I navigate in the dark regularly. A small child blinding me should be fine." Eh, the dragoness was careful with the smol and giggling Sans, with her arms out to prevent bumping into anything at his level. They'd probably be fine.

"Alright then, let's head to the kitchen." With that, G and Meraki made their way after Omorose and Pup, mindful of the giggling child upon the latter's face.

Downstairs, it was rather quiet. Well, as quiet as it could be with Blueberry and Edge cooking breakfast together. Either way, it was much quieter the tomfoolery happening upstairs.

Seriff sat in his usual chair, his legs thrown over the arm of the chair once again.

'Cause, ya know.

Fuck the system.

He seemed to be nursing a cup of coffee very, _very_ , slowly, as Blueberry and Edge conversed in the kitchen.

“DO YOU THINK THE GIRLS WILL LIKE WAFFLES?”

“IF THEY DON’T, TOUGH LUCK! IT’S EITHER THIS, OR NOTHING TO EAT AT ALL.”

“WOW, CAN YOU BE ANY MORE OF A MEANIE?”

“INDEED I CAN WIMP!”

It was at this moment they heard the unholy volume of Omorose’s laughter and her pounding footsteps down the steps. “Please small monster child! Please desist!! Do not attack my sides with your phalange any longer, I implore you!”

Their skulls whipped to the side as Omorose sped into the kitchen in an effort to get away from Pup, who followed close after. She put the movable island in between them, and they played a very rousing game of ‘Which Way will You Go?’ before Pup made a move, causing her to gracefully vault over the obstacle before bolting back out the room with Pup hot on her heels.

.......................

“YOU SAW THAT TOO?”

“I COULD HEAR IT BEFORE I SAW IT.”

Sauntering into the kitchen, Meraki made her way to the table and sat down, leaning back in the chair with a sigh of mixed happiness and grumpiness. "I am awake now and I don't want to be, yet I am happy that I am. Welcome to existence. What's for breakfast?"

Kit had slid down thanks to gravity and was now acting as a stylish scarf instead of a bulky blindfold. He seemed to be fully asleep... but the skeletons could see him open one socket occasionally and glance around, before closing it again. Practicing the art of environmental awareness while fake-sleeping, it seemed.

"They're makin' waffles," Seriff explained, now next to Meraki instead of in the living room. How did he get there? Nobody knows~

(Just kidding, he used a shortcut.)

"Heyyyyyyyy!!! No fair Mo-Mo, that's cheating!!!" Pup suddenly cried out in dissatisfaction.

"I do not believe it is cheating if I use my natural abilities to my advantage, small one." Blueberry and G shared a look, beyond curious at this point, and went to check what all the fuss was about. Peeking out the doorway, Blueberry's eyelights flickered around for a bit in confusion, before G lightly tapped him on the skull to get his attention and pointed upwards.

His grin diminished slightly in surprise.

"Wow."

"......HOW DID SHE EVEN GET UP THERE?"

Learning back a little more to view the situation, Meraki used her feet as a balance to keep Kit and herself from tipping the chair. "...I commend the skill required to get up there. What mixture of magic would that be, purple and blue?"

“You would be correct, Madame Meraki,” Omorose called back from her cross-legged seated position…

On the ceiling.

Yup.

The only thing on her that wasn’t defying gravity was her hair, the long gray curtain cascading down from her scalp and she blinked innocently down at a pouting Pup standing akimbo.

“…….So did ya change the color of your soul, or…?”

“Incorrect Mister G, I used the mixture of magic as a sort of adhesive and ran up the perpendicular wall to get to the ceiling.”

"Yup, sounds 'bout right." Seriff hummed, taking another small sip from his mug.

"YOU'RE NOT GOING TO QUESTION THIS?"

"I may not go into the same science as the rest of you, but I will say that the science that I work with certainly puts things into perspective."

"Yeah, she used magic similarly last night, applying the orange magic to her feet to increase her speed. Don't tell me ya forgot already?" Meraki unlatched the arms of the clinging Kit from around her neck, setting him down in the much safer position of her lap.

“SHE DID TURN A PINE TREE INTO A LILY THAT WAS JUST AS BIG AS THE TREE AS WELL…” Blueberry murmured to himself as Omorose brought herself to her feet.

“Wait, she did what?”

“Interesting…” Giant murmured, strolling into the living room with a cup of coffee in his hand.

As the dragoness turned to face Seriff, she noticed how carefully he was nursing his coffee and was reminded of something very important... Slowly, very slowly, she turned to face Edge, a stern expression upon her face. "Ah yes. Edge. Would you care to tell me just what you skeleton alternates of each other are feeding Seriff?"

Meraki's Mom Mode: Activated.

“EXCUSE YOU?! WE OF COURSE FEED SERIFF WITH ONLY HEALTHY MEALS!” Edge shot back, seemingly offended as the other two skeletons ignored him.

"Uh-huh... Regarding these healthy meals, I notice the distinct scent of hypocrisy in the air..." From both prior knowledge and observation, Meraki had noted that many of the skeletons in the house had a minor obsession with a particular condiment or food, and consumed such things without much to counterbalance it. In terms of healthiness, this was about a negative two on the scale, and the dragoness wasn't exactly pleased that Seriff was deprived for the sake of good health while the others continued their gluttony.

Of course, as a dragon, she herself was no stranger to gluttony, but that was beside the point.

"WHAT HYPOCRISY DO YOU SPEAK OF? THERE IS AN ABSOLUTE LACK OF SUCH A THING IN THIS KITCHEN."

"Well, from what I've seen, that's an incorrect statement there, buddy. Y'see, Sans drinks ketchup liberally, Honey and Syrup both consume their namesakes with abandon, Lust has a particular affinity for mayonnaise, Asriel enjoys butterscotch in high amounts, and so on."

"YOUR POINT BEING???"

"Lookit Seriff here. He just wants coffee, and I can tell ya, coffee is somewhat healthier than a lot of the condiments consumed in this house. Yet you continuously deprive him of his favorite drink, while continuing to enjoy your own. That seems to be... unfair."

"LIFE IS UNFAIR. WHAT THE FUCK WILL YOU DO ABOUT IT?"

"Don't worry too much Meraki. My life was practically built around me suffering from the consequences of another's actions." Seriff shrugged.

Those present fell into an uncomfortable silence at Seriff’s words, while Omorose looked around in confusion. However, due to her attention being taken away from the magic she was using to stick to the ceiling, and it weakened to the point where it could no longer hold her weight.

As you can imagine, she fell.

“Eeeee-! Oof!” Thankfully for her, Syrup, who had been quietly watching from the top of the stairs was nice enough to teleport stop her descent before she could meet the harsh ground.

“careful darlin’. wouldn’t want ya _fallin’_ for me.”

She blinked slowly in incomprehension. “I believe I just _fell_ into your arms, however…”

He stared a bit in return before snickering to himself. “i like ‘er. she’s a riot.”

"Ah, Syrup!" Meraki turned and pointed dramatically at the newly arrived skeleton, Kit opening a single eyesocket in her lap to gaze around again before closing it. "What is your opinion upon the hypocrisy within this household!?"

"DON'T ANSWER THE WRETCH. SHE WANTS TO GET SERIFF UNHEALTHY FOODS."

"Coffee is actually proven to be both stimulating to the mind and body, in proper amounts. One cup a day for someone whose body is habitually used to way more is practically worth zero cups a day. Just ask Giant, _he's_ drinking coffee right there."

“I had hoped not to be brought into this quarrel, but Miss Meraki is correct.” Giant nodded with a soft sigh, watching as Syrup went to move to the couch, Omorose still in his arms and Pup following after like a lost… Well, puppy.

"Boom. Point proven. SO. The agreement is that Seriff gets more coffee, yes?" Meraki stared intensely at Edge, a wide smile upon her face as she did so. It was almost creepy, what with the unusually sharp teeth, but in actuality, it was a happy expression.

Edge seemed bewildered and raised a single finger. "I-"

"Good. DRINK UP SON, I JUST SCORED YOU YOUR DAILY FIX. Love me."

Satisfied with herself, the dragoness stood up, removed a sticky note from the coffee pot that said 'One Cup For Seriff A Day', and promptly ate it.

...............

"SHOULD I EVEN ASK?" Blueberry had returned just in time to witness the consumption of the sticky note, and his expression now almost matched that of Edge.

"NO. JUST, INSTEAD, GET THEM OUT OF THE KITCHEN. I DON'T WANT TO SEE THEIR FUCKING FACES FOR THE NEXT HOUR."

Wow. "Careful ya don't put that much salt on your breakfast, I hear that eating an excess amount of salt is... _unhealthy_."

"GET OUT."

"Aw, I didn't mean to rub any _salt_ in the wound!" Pausing for a moment, Meraki held Kit under one arm and tapped her lips with the other. "Actually, yes, yes I did. Sorry about that!"

" **OUT!** "

Meraki was therefore banished from the kitchen for as long as Edge was in it and after the safe removal of the BabyBlaster, was thrown out into the living room. She landed upon the back of a chair, and slowly slid down until her back made contact with the seat, remaining there in acceptance of her newest physical positioning.

...it looked to be quite uncomfortable, but it was totally worth it. The view was pretty nice too, especially with what happened next.

Seriff was quiet for a moment, watching the interactions between the others, before slowly getting up and heading straight toward the coffee pot. Without a single fuck given, he took the entire coffee pot, dumped his cup into it, and then added the sugar and creamer needed to the pot. All while staring at the others like with an utter look of defiance. He then took the pot of coffee and sat back down in his seat.

Syrup snickered at the pure sass with which Seriff regarded those present, relaxing back against the couch with Omorose squarely in his hold. He squeezed her a little, enjoying the warmth and softness against himself, and watched intently as she began to play a little hand game with Pup. Weird how attached the babybones was getting to the woman-child already.

“so, darlin’, sleep well?”

“I do not require sleep. I am unaware of how to even do so.”

“oh, right… don’t worry, we can teach ya, I think…” He sat down, situating the girl in his lap and watched with thinly veiled amusement as Pup climbed into hers.

“Your hands better not wander, Syrup.” G teased with a smirk, snickering as he was flipped the bony bird in return.

"Honestly? I trust Syrup with Omorose more than I trust you, G." Seriff said, pointing a finger in G's direction.

"Wow Ser, I'm hurt."

"At least with Syrup, all he wants is cuddles. All you want, G, is another bed warmer."

Meanwhile, Sans had stumbled down the steps looking incredibly tired, but his sockets landed on Meraki's weird position on the couch.

".....do i even want to know what happened?"

"Probably." Seriff hummed, drinking straight from the large pot of coffee he had in his hand.

"wait. why are you drinking from the coffee pot?"

"Meeee!" Meraki raised her hand excitedly, or rather, lowered it, what with her upside-down position. "Seriff's coffee ban has been lifted! I did that!"

Seeing a dragon in human form being that excited was highly amusing... but Sans was too tired for this shit. He needed some form of sustenance to keep from falling back asleep, as it was his day to watch the BabyBlasters. And he needed to make sure nobody from any dangerous AU's visited to see the anomaly.

"ok." With that, the short skeleton made his way over to the couch, plopping down and sinking into the cushions to wait for breakfast to be ready. Following the original, the room was gradually filled by the other inhabitants of the mansion, all sharing this goal... low conversation amongst themselves made for lovely background noise.

"Ooh! Wait! I just remembered something!" Meraki rolled backward from her position, landing with her hands and feet on the floor, and promptly pushed herself up into a standing position. "I have to use the bathroom!"

After that announcement, the dragoness casually sauntered past the bathroom door and made her way upstairs.

“MUTT.” Razz rasped out, crossing his arms as he shot a sharp glance over to his brother. “WHY ARE YOU HOLDING THE HUMAN?”

“not human m’lord.”

“I DID NOT ASK FOR A CLARIFICATION ON SPECIES! ANSWER THE QUESTION!”

“she’s warm and soft. besides, she doesn’t mind the cuddlin’, do ya, darlin’?”

“Mmm? Oh, not at all! Having lived in the Anti-Void since my formative years, I was unaware that I was experiencing extreme levels of sensory deprivation. This ‘cuddling’ is extremely pleasant!” She assured, letting Pup jump down to run to his brother before turning in his hold and attempting to cuddle back. “May I do the same? How do I return ‘the cuddles’?”

“………” Syrup squeezed her tighter to himself, running a hand through her hair and began to mutter. “she’s precious, i wanna keep her.”

“heh, ya sound like geno…” Sans chuckled, rubbing at his sockets.

Seriff muttered something incomprehensible under his breath, going deeper into the cushions of his chair as if remembering the last time Geno had seen something cute. "He's not that bad... yet..."

A loud thumping echoed from upstairs, followed by a silence that dragged on with ominous weight. After several moments, this silence was broken by rapid thumping as Meraki returned down the stairs, now wearing different accessories than she was before.

"LAY THINE EYES UPON MY GLORIOUS VISAGE AND WEEP, LOWLY MORTALS! I am the greaser that got dem shades from Fresh."

The dragoness had replaced Edge's scarf, gloves, and boots with a leather jacket and combat boots of G, and true to her word, topped it off with shades from Fresh. The black shades currently said _'Boss Bish'_ on them, and with a wide grin, the dragoness turned her gaze to Fresh.

...the neon-clad skeleton had shoved his hands into his pockets, and his own sunglasses read _'??? ???'_ on them. He apparently wasn't aware of how she had come into possession of a pair of his shades, but did he care?

Yes.

Yes he did.

How in the wiggity-what did she get them?

"Welp, when you can't beat 'em... join 'em," Seriff replied, also now wearing a pair of Fresh's shades. Only his said _'Aussie Pimp'_ instead.

....

"broseriff, where did you get those?"

"From a recommended service. Called 'Meraki Express.' You should try it out sometime."

……………………………

“…..I’M GAINING THE FEELING THAT I SHOULD HIDE MY THINGS, EXCUSE ME,” Blueberry asked before zooming up the steps, Raspberry not far behind him. They were smart enough to see where this was going.

“PERHAPS I SHOULD DO SO AS WELL.” Pluto mused to himself.

"There's no point in trying to hide anything from her." Seriff called after them, before muttering, "She probably already stole it...."

"Shhhhhhhhh... they don't know my skills... they can only guess... But yes, getting clothes for Omorose is very important, no matter how beautiful she is without them." The change in subject was not subtle, but subtle wasn't exactly Meraki's middle name. After more than half a millennium of existence, this could only be deliberate.

Nearby, G's grin slowly widened as he appraised the outfit change, and it seemed as though he had difficulty remaining where he was standing. Upon completing this appraisal, he called out after the other skeletons who had left to hide their things, his amusement audible. "She looks bangin' hot in my clothes, guys! Just imagine how she'd look in yours!"

After a long moment of silence ensued, the tall skeleton smirked to himself, and added to his previous statements. "Still wanna hide your stuff!?"

Omorose squirmed around in Syrup’s hold until he let go, before popping up and moving over to Meraki with a smile. “You look radiant Madame Meraki! Do you think t’would have the same effect if I donned such an outfit too?”

“OH! SPEAKING OF CLOTHING!” Papyrus interjected, smiling over at Omorose. “PERHAPS WE SHOULD ACQUIRE YOU SOME TODAY! NOT MANY OF OUR CLOTHES WILL FIT YOU, YOU’RE BORROWING SOME OF SERIFF’S AND EDGE’S SCARF NOW AND SEEING AS MISS MERAKI IS… ‘AHEM’ BORROWING OURS ALREADY, IT WOULD BE PRUDENT TO GET YOU SOME.”

“SINCE SHE IS TALLER THAN MERAKI WITHOUT ANY ASSISTANCE, I DO BELIEVE SHE’D BE ABLE TO FILL OUT ANY CLOTHES OF OURS BETTER.” Flush mused, successfully hiding his smirk as his sockets watched those who seemed particularly interested in Omorose so far, though two of them were missing at the moment. They seemed… interested by the idea.

“i’d totally let her dress up in my clothes.” Lust chuckled, looking Omorose up and down slowly. “i have a lot she could choose from after all…”

" **N o.** " A chill was sent up every skeleton's spine, Seriff having his empty sockets narrowed at Lust.

“d’aww…” Lust muttered, snapping his fingers. He’d try again later when there wasn’t so many mother hens around.

"I don't doubt for a second that you'd look fabulous, Beautiful. With the right styles and colors, your natural beauty would only be amplified." Meraki ignored the Lust brothers in favor of answering Omorose, knowing that Seriff was already on the case. "Ah, and here is a special delivery from the Meraki Express~" With a wink behind her 'Boss Bish' shades, the dragoness withdrew a pair of matching sunglasses from her new jacket's pocket with a graceful flourish, and held them out to the lovely Void-child.

" _Ooooooooh~!_ " As expected, the girl quickly swiped them up from her caretaker and began meticulously looking over the object in her curious way. Upon her touch however, the words on the sunglasses began to glitch out and began to display non-numeral, non-letter symbols.

If this was an anime, those around her would have sweat-dropped.

"....I believe it's having trouble on how to describe her." Giant supplied, trying his hardest not to smile at the awfully weird situation.

"That's hilarious," Seriff grinned, his own shades having no such issue.

"And completely _radical_ too." The dragoness paused, glancing over at Fresh. "Really? Radical? That's nowhere near the actual word! I can understand radhole replacing asshole, but radical replacing badass?"

"...whoa, sistah. First ya get yo hands on my radtastic shades somehow and then ya mess with mah kid-friendly censoring? Not cool brah, not cool." The neon-clad skeleton stood up a little straighter, his hands still in his pockets. He seemed to be rather displeased, but not quite to the point of violence... no, he was not violently so.

Fortunately, Meraki was able to keep the peace... at least, when she didn't feel like fighting. "Eh, no problem. Can't say I'll stop with the shades thing, cuz it's kinda a compulsion, but your _radical_ censorship is fine with me. Makes conversation more fun in my opinion."

A metaphorical bullet was thereby dodged, and a skeleton or two nearby breathed a sigh of relief.

“BREAKFAST IS DONE.” Edge called out as he walked out of the kitchen, taking off his apron. “VOID-WOMAN, YOU NEED NOT EAT, CORRECT?” Omorose nodded absently as she noticed her fingers sparking lightly Fresh’s sunglasses, this time with the black-accented violet hue that he was known for. No one seemed to notice just yet as they were distracted by the prospect of food. “WELL THEN, IT IS ONLY REASONABLE THAT WE OBTAIN YOU SOME CLOTHING. COME WITH ME, I AM SURE WE COULD FIND SOME SUITABLE CLOTHING IN BLACK AND RED FOR YOU.”

“WAIT A MINUTE EDGE!” Like he was summoned, Blueberry jumped over the entire staircase and dropped to the bottom with Raspberry following close behind. Because frankly, fuck stairs. “WE HAD TRAINING PLANNED INSTEAD TODAY! WE’LL HAVE TO DO THAT LATER!”

“WE CANNOT ‘DO THAT LATER’. THE CREATURE NEEDS CLOTHES AND OTHER NECESSITIES!”

“I UNDERSTAND THAT, BUT SHE NEEDS CONTROL OVER HER MAGIC! SHE COULD BE A DANGER TO THE PUBLIC OTHERWISE!” Blueberry pointed out, before gaining an odd look. “AND WHY DO YOU GET TO CHOOSE HER CLOTHING FOR HER ANYWAY? SHE SHOULD BE ABLE TO DECIDE THAT ON HER OWN!”

“THE WOMAN DOESN’T EVEN KNOW HOW TO PROPERLY EAT.” Edge replied, waving a hand dismissively. “SHE WOULD SURELY KNOW NOTHING ABOUT FASHION.”

“WHAT, AND YOU DO?” Razz huffed, crossing his arms. “GRAY AND VIOLET WOULD ULTIMATELY WORK BETTER FOR HER, SEEING AS HER HAIR AND EYES ARE THAT COLOR.”

“Are you guys really arguing about this?” G rose a brow ridge, but was ultimately ignored.

"S'no fun being ignored is it, G?" Seriff hummed, before taking a drink from his coffee pot, "Welcome to my world."

“YOU’RE JUST SAYING THAT BECAUSE THOSE ARE YOUR FAVORITE COLORS, RASPBERRY! EITHER WAY, SHE NEEDS TRAINING FIRST!”

“SHE NEEDS CLOTHES TO TRAIN IN, DOESN’T SHE?” Edge sighed, tapping a boot impatiently.

“SHE HAS CLOTHES ON NOW!”

“THEY’LL GET DIRTY FOOL.” Raspberry growled. “BESIDES, SHE DOESN’T EVEN HAVE ANY SHOES!”

Meraki threw an arm over Omorose's shoulder, scanning the room with satisfaction. Ah, chaos, lovely chaos. "Clothes are a necessity. I have all I need, and can easily acquire what I don't, so first thing to do with Omorose is getting clothes."

"But we wanted to play..." Oh no. Pup was looking sad and adorable, and Kit was pouting cutely... BUT A SOLUTION WAS AT HAND!

"Who said ya can't play in shopping malls? They're one of the best places for hide and seek, if ya stay in a certain area each game!"

"whoa. wait. n-" Sans was cut off by the excited squeals of the Babyblasters, and after putting his skull in his hands, just groaned. "okay. i guess we're doing that today."

"You guys have fun with that. I'mma sit here, drink my pot of coffee, and play Pokémon Duel." Seriff hummed, putting his pot of coffee on the table and pulling out his phone.

"BUT. TRAINING. SHE COULD ACCIDENTALLY HURT SOMEONE, AND THAT WOULDN'T LOOK GOOD FOR MONSTERKIND..."

Releasing Omorose, Meraki went over to Blueberry and booped his nasal bone. "Relax, Sunny-skies, she'll be with multiple beings in possession of magic. If anything goes wrong, we'll be able to contain it."

“BUT-“ All of a sudden there was a strong zapping sound and as heads whipped around to the source of the noise, there were several double takes as gazes fell on Omorose.

Apparently the magic from Fresh’s glasses did something that was quite known of him, doing a parasitic move by spreading from her fingertips to her clothes… And changing them to neon colors quite similar to his own. The former white t-shirt was now a neon green with blue vertical pin-stripes, and the jeans were now an eyesore of a purple color. The scarf did nothing to help this situation, as it was now checkered with an assortment of bright colors.

Fresh was ecstatic.

“Yoooo, lookin’ fine as apple pie my void-sistah!” He snickered at some of the horrified gazes around the room, and floated over to her position. Plucking his sunglasses from her hands, he slipped them on over her eyes like they were made for. After a bit of glitching, _Void QT_ took the place of the nonsensical symbols on the shades.  “Perfect!”

Edge and Razz turned back to Blueberry with brows raised, and gestured to her as to make a point.

“…..SHOPPING IT IS.”

One thing was for sure… Edge was never going to wear the neon-checkered scarf again.

"My poor clothes...." Seriff muttered, his eyebrows furrowing. However, as he began to concentrate on the outfit, they slowly unfurrowed, "Wait.... wait... I could work with this."

There was a moment of silence wherein practically everyone stared at Seriff, uncertain as to what he meant exactly. Honey ended up being the one who spoke the thought that these skeletons were thinking.

"how... how can you work with this?"

"If I just.. yeah... I can..." Seriff was practically ignoring everyone at this point. He stood, closing the distance between himself and Omorose, before picking her up and heading towards his room. "I'll be right back."

“That’s whack, she was straight already.” Fresh huffed lightly in mock offense.

“welp, might as well eat before they get back.” Sans sighed, before heaving himself off the couch. “c’mon babybones.”

Still cheering as though they were the happiest children in the world, Pup and Kit quickly ran off into the kitchen- the latter pulling along Meraki behind him. It seemed as though, similar to Pup being attached to the innocent Void-child, Kit had become attached to the dragoness. "Mer! We gotta eat fast so we can be ready when Mo-Mo and Ser come back!"

"Sounds like a plan, Stan."

The BabyBlaster frowned. "My name's not Stan! It's Comic Sans! But my nickname here is Kit!"

Close behind the three, Sans choked on air, and Meraki sent a devious glance his way at the new information before turning back to the smol alternate. "You got it, Kit."

With the acquisition and subsequent consumption of breakfast waffles and several condiments, the four were back in the living room and ready to go within fifteen minutes-probably the fastest amount of time that Sans had done anything in for a while.

"Oh hey, y'all are back. I fixed Omorose's outfit." Seriff waved from the archway,

Sans frowned, "you made the outfit fresh gave her work?"

"What? Oh no, those colors were terrible." Seriff made a face, "They didnt match her hair or eyes at all. Well except maybe the pants but they didnt exactly have the right shade. No, not the right colors but it did give me an idea of what to give her what to wear."

He walked out completely, pulling Omorose gently by the hand to show off her new outfit. Seriff then pointed at each piece of clothing as he described it, "I replaced that pin-striped shirt with a horizontal striped White and Violet off-the-shoulder shirt. I gave her a grey shawl to go over her shoulders, so something covers them. Then I gave her some stylishly ripped dark grey jeans as again, those purple pants did not do her good." He then pointed to her feet, "I figured heel boots would be a bit much for a girl who just came out of the Anti-Void, so I figured normal black boots would be fine. Finally, to help pull the outfit together and bring out her eyes, I gave her some violet accessories, like the hair band, bracelets, and choker."

Omorose waved excitedly to those present as she hopped up and down in her new clothing before bounding over to Meraki in glee. “Madame Meraki, look! I have donned different articles of clothing! Do beings do this all the time?”

“Lookin’ good doll.” G smirked, Syrup giving a thumbs up as well.

“You’re very pretty Miss Omorose!” Asriel replied, smiling.

Meraki nodded in agreement with the assessments of G, Syrup, and Asriel, a smile on her face as she answered. "Yes indeed they do, Beautiful. It's considered something necessary by most people, but it's also a possible pastime and career, if you're good enough at it. Fashion, style, that sort of thing. People enjoy making themselves and others look aesthetically pleasing. Seriff is particularly skilled at doing so."

"AS ARE A FEW OTHERS AMONG US, INCLUDING MYSELF, EDGE, RASPBERRY, LUST, AND FLUSH!" Papyrus coughed after mentioning those last two, and added to his statement. "OF COURSE, THE FASHION SENSE OF LUST AND FLUSH IS A BIT... RISQUÉ... FOR REGULAR DAILY USAGE. IT IS BETTER TO NOT WEAR THE CLOTHES THEY GIVE YOU OUT IN PUBLIC."

"i'll have you know that my sense of style is perfect for public display, thank you. especially when you consider what those humans are _putting out_ on their runways these days." Lust spoke in a mockingly sophisticated tone of voice, and promptly enhanced- ahem, ruined- the effect with a sex pun.

After a moment of consideration, Papyrus frowned, and acquiesced. "...HE DOES HAVE A POINT."

"OH, LET'S JUST GO ALREADY! I'M DONE EATING, THE CHILDREN ARE DONE EATING, RAZZ AND SANS ARE DONE EATING, THE SO-CALLED DRAGON IS DONE STUFFING HER FACE; WE'RE _FUNK_ ING READY TO LEAVE."

Meraki sniffed with mock-insult at Edge's disbelief of her dragonhood, and spoke in the tone Lust had previously used. "I will have you know that I am a lady, and to insinuate that I 'stuffed my face' like any peasant on the streets is an insult of the highest degree. You forget yourself, sir."

Off to the side, Lust whispered to the dragoness, "i think we're gonna be friends," and broke out into giggles when she nodded daintily in agreement.

"You guys have fun." Seriff waved, heading towards his chair.

“i’m _comin’_ too, by the way.” Lust said, getting out of his chair. Flush blinked in surprise, but shrugged in acquiesce; his lazy brother was deciding to do something, so he wasn’t complaining.  “this is gonna be fun, she might not be able to wear any clothes of mine but i’m gonna make darn sure she gets at least ONE sexy pair of socks. maybe a nice corset.” He smirked at the various shades of color lighting up on their alternates’ faces before sauntering out the room to put some shoes on.

“Oh, Mister Fresh, would you like these back?” Omorose asked, pulling out the pair of sunglasses she was given as he approached him. “Mister Seriff informed me they didn’t exactly match my current clothing.” His brow furrowed slightly as he stared down the woman before he waved a hand good-naturedly.

“Nah homegirl, keep ‘em. They look good on ya.”

“Truly?! Oh, I thank you!” She surprised him with a friendly hug (she was starting to understand that hugs were a way to express comfort and/or pleasure) before skipping off with Pup in the direction of Kit. He stared after her with a blank expression for quite a while before poofing out of existence.

Score one for the anomaly being able to freak out the unfeeling parasite.

"Eyyyyy Seriff, you should totally come with us. With Lust joining the party, who knows what sorta things I'll help these guys get Omorose?"

Meraki lowered her new shades and winked at her skeletal friend, pushing the shades back into place as a mischievous expression grew upon her face.

"Meh. I don't feel like it. You already have like, five or whatever fashion freaks with ya already." Seriff shrugged.

"True, we do have five experienced adults coming along, buuuuut..." The dragoness shifted around to Seriff's other side, a wide grin upon her face. "Two of which have highly emo-teenager styles, one of which apparently has a highly sexual sense of style, one of which would probably choose anime school girl and sailor costumes, and one of which whose sense of fashion is a hoodie and basketball shorts... then there's me, Omorose, and the kids." Slowly leaning in, Meraki whispered in a way that was, hopefully, persuasive. "While the four fashionista skeletons are picking out clothes, Sans will be watching the three most innocent beings in this house practically by himself, and you know I'll be distracted by almost every little shiny thing we pass by."

"Take Giant with you."

The tall skeleton, seated nearby with a laptop before him, frowned at the mention of himself. "My apologies Seriff, but I have a classified research paper that needs to be completed by noon. Then I need to go down to the labs and continue some time-constrained experiments, and that'll take most of the day..."

"Take Asriel."

"I'm busy hanging out with Chara today, sorry..."

"Then take Chara with you as well."

Asriel appeared alarmed. "Chara and Razz aren't exactly the best combination. Remember the last time we went out on errands together? The store banned us for life because they beat up security!"

"Hahaha, yah, I remember that. It was hilarious." Seriff grinned, before humming, "It's strange how almost all the reasonable ones seem to be busy on the exact same day."

“also strange that the seventeen year old seems to be the only reasonable one free.” Syrup muttered, sipping at a bottle of syrup.

"I know, right?" Meraki slid back into the conversation, her smile slightly wider. "C'mon, you know you secretly wanna influence Beautiful's sense of fashion for possibly the rest of her life."

"But I don't want to go anywhere..."

"But when was the last time you've traveled by dragon anywhere?" It was a rare occasion that Meraki allowed anyone to ride her- it was somewhat degrading to her draconic legacy and pride- buuuut she was in a good mood today. Probably had something to do with all the new stuff she'd gotten and people she'd met.

It had nothing to do with proving Edge wrong. Nothing at all.

"But why ride a dragon and be dragged to a place full of _people_ when I can play Skyrim?"

"Why play Skyrim and look at fake dragons when you can ride a _real_ dragon and look down upon the small people below and laugh?" Seeing that Seriff was being particularly difficult, Meraki turned and looked past G and Lust, calling out the doorway to where Omorose might be. "Omorose! Bby! Beautiful! I require your assistance!"

Oh great, what was she planning now?

It was a quiet moment before Omorose strolled back into the kitchen with Pup piggy-backing her, looking incredibly curious as to why she was being summoned. “Of what help may I be, Madame?”

The dragoness leaned over, whispering into the Void-child's ear with an expression of utmost seriousness...

"I need ya to ask Seriff to come with us. His presence would be highly beneficial to our quest for clothes."

Omorose listened carefully and nodded in understanding before turning around to face Seriff with a pleasant smile and clasped hands. There may or may not have been sparkles twinkling around her face. “Mister Seriff, will you be accompanying us to the place of clothing? I find your presence most agreeable!”

Seriff stared at her for a moment before looking to the side, "Fuck, I hate it when you use things like this against me. _Fine._ But if I get mugged by fangirls, then I'm taking it out on y'all. Not her, or the babybones, but y'all."

"I accept this potential punishment!" Meraki's shades shifted into the word 'Victory' for just a moment, flashing between silver and gold lettering before returning to its original 'Boss Bish' state. "ONWARDS, MY LOVELY FRIENDS, ONWARDS!"

Nearby, having seen all of this transpire, Honey sat down beside Syrup and Orion, an expression of wariness upon his skull. "...that dragon girl's gonna be a problem at some point, i can tell."

Orion appeared hesitant to even ask, but he proceeded anyways. "why do you say that?"

"her stubbornness rivals that of edge, chara, and seriff combined."

"oh shit."

"I heard that, asshole."

“Yeeee~!! Let’s go outside Mo-Mo! C’mon brother!” Omorose nodded and ran back outside at the child’s command, Kit hot on her heels and giggling at the excited squeal she released at the feeling of fresh air.

“FINALLY!” Edge shouted in exasperation, following after the innocent ones with Razz not far after him.

“we’re off to see the wizard…” Lust hummed softly as he strolled out the door.

“THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ~!” Blue finished with a bright smile, skipping after him.

Meraki side-eyed Seriff, her face scrunching up with glee. "Listen to the happiness you have brought to Omorose and the children. And the happy references of classic literature and old movies from the two you'd least expect it from. And look at the joy upon my lovely visage. You know you don't regret this." With that, the dragoness turned towards the doorway, and paused when Lust peered in from the door outside.

As the shorter skeleton came into view, G grinned, and called at the skeleton from his place by the staircase. "Oi, get the girl some fishnets or somethin'!"

Lust shot a thumbs up in reply, and turned towards his original purpose in looking back inside. "hey mer, you like takin' pictures of cute stuff, right? pup is having a field day explainin' to rosy what everything she can see is."

...The dragoness was instantly out the doorway with her phone primed and ready for adorable photo opportunities in one hand, and Seriff being led along with the other. "I feel totally like a mama taking pictures of her kids, but we cannot miss this moment."

Sans gave a world-weary sigh as he followed after the group like he was off to the gallows. “this is gonna be a looooong day…”


	6. Let's Go SHOPPING!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Opti: *Snickers as she watches the mayhem.*  
> Ulti: *walks around silently imitating various skeletons, lip-syncing and making dramatic poses*

"FUCK NO, DON'T GET THAT FOR HER. SHE'S NOT WEABOO TRASH LIKE YOU ARE."

"BUT IT'S SO CUTE, AND ROSE IS CUTE! IT'S A MATCH MADE IN FASHION!"

"NO. SHE NEEDS TO AT LEAST _LOOK_ LIKE SHE CAN TAKE CARE OF HERSELF, UNTIL SHE ACTUALLY CAN. FUCKING SURVIVAL 101."

"LANGUAGE!"

The bickering of Edge and Blueberry could be heard from outside the store the group had entered, and several shoppers passing by gave them strange looks through the glass. The fact that Meraki was bench pressing a clothes rack on top of another clothes rack didn't exactly help these looks at all, but at least her semi-distracted audience of two was entertained.

"More, Mer! Another one!" Kit challenged the dragoness, and she quickly accepted it, balancing the two racks in one hand for a moment in order to throw a third one on top. The employees of the store seemed merely amused... perhaps they were familiar with such antics from other monsters.

Omorose merely sat idly by, having been told to stay put her caretakers before they started arguing over outfits. Sans was beside her, already looking exhausted and semi-done with the day, and Razz standing to her opposite side, looking ultimately conflicted between the outfits.

His personality was pretty much Edge and Blueberry combined, could you blame him? He had a thought that they could always get both, but that obviously held too much common sense to be an attractive solution.

Seriff rubbed his head softly and sighed, before walking around to the two and plucking a few things off the rack, "My god, would you two just shut the hell up?? If you want something cute, and want something that makes her look kick ass, get something with both." He then paused, and rolled his eyes, "Oh wait, what am I saying? That just makes too much sense. I mean it's not like we're all rational beings or in most cases around here adults. No, that just makes too much sense. Silly me."

He picked up a shirt and tilted his head, "Oh hey look, something that is both cute _and_ kick-ass. Whaddya know."

"UGH, FINE. BUT I REFUSE TO HAVE ALL OF HER CLOTHES BE TAINTED BY THIS SO-CALLED 'CUTE' STYLE, AND I WILL BE GETTING HER CLOTHES BETTER SUITED FOR DAILY USE." Edge nodded decisively and went over to one of the racks Meraki was bench pressing, simply using his height to look through the clothes without any trouble.

"AND _I_ REFUSE TO HAVE ALL OF HER CUTE CLOTHES TAINTED BY MISTER EMO-FOR-LIFE'S STYLE. I CALL DIBS ON NIGHTCLOTHES!" Oh, you sneaky little shit.

"...Is it too late to be labeled unstable? Because I would _love_ to be labeled so, so I can go back to my universe and never have to deal with this kinda bullshit ever again." Seriff sighed, before grabbing Omorose by the hand,  "C'mon, I'm taking you to one of my favorite places to shop while these guys work with the stuff in this place."

“Oh… Yes, Mister Seriff.” Omorose nodded as she took his hand, standing up and following Seriff out of the store. Razz, not wanting to deal with his alternate selves’ bullshit, followed after the two with a deep sigh. Razz had been shopping before with Seriff and knew exactly where they were headed.

They weren’t exactly sure where Lust had run off to at this point…

Omorose’s attention was firmly on her surroundings at this point, eyes awed and wide as she watched the crowd of people walk to and fro. Razz had to jerk her out of the way of obstacles a few times, and by the fifth or so time, flicked the side of her head to regain her attention. “PAY ATTENTION TO WHERE YOU’RE GOING, CREATURE.”

"Don't be mean to Mo-Mo!" Pup had followed the three, it seemed, and was keeping track of them by holding onto Omorose' shawl.

"Pup is right Assberry." Seriff hummed, easily navigating the crowds towards the best shop of them all.... Hot Topic.

“Oh, hello small one…” Omorose had been taken by surprise by both Raspberry’s rough way of making her snap out of it and Pup’s sudden arrival. Her head cocked to the side as he squeezed in between her and Razz, before taking her hand with a bright smile. She smiled in return as they strolled up to the entrance of the edgy yet fabulously nerdy store, and she looked around curiously as they entered.

Nearby, sneaking rather obviously after the four, Kit and Meraki were diving behind potted plants and bright displays, humming the Mission: Impossible theme. It seemed that they had successfully ditched Sans... heh.

Kit tripped into a potted plant during one of his rolls, and knocked it over, a flash of bright color appearing and disappearing behind it as it fell past some lights and shattered. Startled by the loud noise, the babybones squeaked and stumbled backward away from the plant, being scooped up by Meraki and carried off towards the Hot Topic.

"Lesson one of being stealthy: be aware of your surroundings. Potted plants are decent to hide behind, but as you have found, are also easily knocked over. Escape routes are also important to have, in case your hiding spot is compromised- just as yours was."

As they crouched by the entrance to the store, the dragoness pointed inside and looked to Kit. "Alright, what hiding places do you easily see inside there?"

"Um... the... rotating sunglasses and jewelry racks? There are more than one there, which would cover me from view, and there are small openings between them that I'd be able to see through."

Meraki grinned and booped the nasal bone of the smol Sans. "Good. Now, what's a quick escape route from that spot in case they get knocked over?"

"When I'm there, I could... run to the left or right or back the way I came. Left, I can go between the clothes racks. Right, I can run past the counter and go deeper into the store. Back, I can run out of the store and hide behind another thing out of sight."

"Excellent. Go forth, Kit, and do me a proud."

"Yes, ma'am!" With that, the babybones ran into the store and hid behind the rotating racks, peeking between them to watch his brother and Seriff.

Though filled to the brim with weeaboo items and clothing, there was plenty of gothic and dark-humored stuff around that frankly, frightened the little Pup. Seeing Omorose being sat down and told not to move by Razz, he quickly scrambled up into her lap. Her arms automatically curled around him as she gazed at all of the new things surrounding her while Raspberry tapped his chin.

“SERIFF, YOU KNOW HER SHOE SIZE, CORRECT?”

"Yup." Seriff replied, eyeing a few of the outfits on the wall, "Note to self... Teach Omorose about video games."

Glancing around the store, Kit scoped out possible hiding places closer to his bro and quickly ran down the left escape route to hide inside a circular clothes rack. The only thing visible of him were his little shoes underneath and oddly folded clothing from where he'd entered.

Meraki grinned from her spot behind the doorway, clapping quietly to herself as her smol apprentice in stealth applied the lessons he'd been taught quite quickly. It wasn't the best _quality_ of application but that would improve with future practice.

“Video… Games?” Omorose asked in confusion. “Little Pup had explained that games were for one's amusement. Are they… fun?” It was rather difficult for the Void-child to speak in much less antiquated terms, but she had been told by the children that it was hard to understand her if she didn’t ‘nerd it down’. She was… trying at least.

“I FIND THEM A HUGE WASTE OF TIME…” Raspberry scoffed as he walked over to a rack in order to look through the clothes.

"That's because you haven't played the right ones." Seriff grinned, before turning back to Omorose, "Yah, they're fuckin awesome. Different genre's of em too, so you never get bored."

"I prefer puzzle and platformer games, like Jak 3, and Portal 2! But I will also play first person shooters, and RPGs are absolutely _hilarious_!" Meraki promptly blew her cover by calling out her addition to the conversation, and dove into the clothes rack that Kit was hiding in, holding in her giggles at his betrayed expression as she scooped him loose.

"Mer, whyyyyyy!?"

"Lesson number two, little dude: make sure your enemies can't follow!"

He frowned, looking up at the dragoness with an unusually serious expression for a child. "But _you're_ not my enemy... you're Meraki, my fun new friend!"

"Oh, my heart. Rest In Peace me, I am now ded." Meraki collapsed dramatically, crossing her eyes and sticking out her tongue as she lay on the floor.

"Meeeeeeerrrrrrr!"

“M-Madame Meraki?!” Omorose watched as she dropped to the ground, deep concern on her face. Pup giggled as he watched his brother whine, before gently patting Omorose’s shoulder.

“Don’t worry Mo-Mo, Mer’s just playing around. She’s fine.”

“DEBATABLE. I FIND IT HARD TO BELIEVE THAT SHE IS ALL THAT ’FINE’ IN HER HEAD.” You’d think that with actually seeing the woman Razz was referring to actually turn into a legit dragon and fly them to the Supermall, he’d show a bit more respect for the woman, but… nope.

And yes, they were being stared at. By a fair amount of people at this time.

"Hey, I resent that." The dragoness uncrossed her eyes to stare at Razz, lazily wrapping her arms around Kit and pulling him into her side. "Also, Kit resents that. Ain't that right, mah awesome apprentice?"

The babybones nodded firmly, folding his arms and giving the temperamental adult skeleton the stink eye.

Seriff rolled his eyes, picking out a few shirts and jeans. His eyes glanced over at some of the merchandise, before grabbing that too. "Like you're one to talk anyways, Raz."

Omorose watched the exchange with her usual attentive expression, gently rubbing over Pup’s back as she looked back and forth between those talking. Then she spoke.

“Based on the conversation, I am gathering the idea that Mister Raspberry is the definition of a hypocrite.”

**_-9999999999999999_ **

"Right on the nail, Rose."

Meraki leaned up and whispered into Kit's nonexistent ear, gesturing to Omorose with a mischievous gleam in her eye. Her continued teaching of the child could have potentially disastrous consequences if allowed to continue for any substantial amount of time.

"Innocent people such as Omorose and you babybones have the potential to do the most verbal damage to an opponent, as displayed just now when wielding the brutally honest truth. Most of the time, this verbal strike is entirely unintentional, but the sneakiest of innocent beings are capable of deliberately using it to their advantage. According to mah bestie Seriff, Blueberry, and Papyrus are masters at this art, and I recommend that you go to them for lessons in this particular skill."

...It would be difficult to separate her from the child, however. The dragoness seemed to have decided to take him on as an apprentice of some sort, or perhaps an adopted son, or maybe an addition to her hoard. Which one is it? Nobody knows~

“UGH! I’VE NEVER BEEN SO INSULTED!” Omorose blinked in surprise at the sudden shout, observing as Razz spun on his heal and strut out of the store. “HAVE FUN SEARCHING FOR CLOTHES WITHOUT ME THEN!”

Pup giggled as he watched the ensuing chaos. “See ya later Razzy~!”

“DON’T CALL ME THAT!"

"Bye Assberry." Seriff waved dismissively in his shorter counterparts direction.

Meraki watched the temperamental shorty go, and after a few moments straightened up into a standing position. "And then there was one." Her following glance towards Seriff made it clear who this 'one' was...

With a wide grin, the dragoness proceeded to gaze around the store and look at the various interesting things, particularly the jewelry, hoodies, and leggings. "Hey Kit, c'mere. Most of this jewelry is fake, wanna learn how to tell?" The babybones stared for a few moments, a somewhat bewildered expression on his skull before he slowly nodded and approached.

"Sweet! So, genuine jewelry will have maker marks on their inner parts, or if there is no inside area, it'll usually be on the back or underside. If there is no marking, it's practically a guaranteed fake..." Onwards she went, telling of the visual differences between real and fake jewelry, before adding an interesting little tidbit of information. "Magic energy reacts differently to various metals as well, almost like a tuning fork. The purer the metal, the cleaner the resonance. The reactions change depending on how well each metal conducts various forms of energy. I'm a particular fan of those produced by gold and silver."

...The poor child seemed overloaded, but hey, he liked the magic part! Perhaps it was a bit soon to be teaching him how to recognize good treasure, though.

Having nothing else to do and hearing the prospect of information out of her head caretaker’s mouth, Omorose popped up beside Meraki and Kit, nearly scaring the hell out of the child. Pup was now placed on her shoulders, smiling down at his older brother. Kit blinked before giving him a pout and promptly raised his arms up towards Omorose. Instinctively understanding the request, she moved to pick him up into her arms and smiled to herself as the two began to stick their conjured tongues out at each other in playful antagonization.

Speaking of necklaces, Seriff walked over and grabbed a few of those as well. (He also grabbed a few for himself because God damn he loved these things) "Good to see at least one grown-up I know isn't useless."

Meraki quickly snapped a picture of Omorose and the babyblasters, a smirk of amusement upon her face. However, at the comment from Seriff, she glanced around with playful surprise, looking for this other responsible, non-useless adult.

"Who, me? Nah breh, nah. Shiny things here, just like I told ya." She winked, gesturing to the jewelry beside them. It was true- she had said that she'd be easily distracted by shiny things... heh.

"Of course, how could I forget." Seriff smirked, before turning his attention to some of the Supernatural merchandise they had as loud voices came from the entrance of the store.

“YOU WANTED TO COME ALONG TO HELP THE VOID WOMAN ACQUIRE CLOTHES IN THE FIRST PLACE, DON’T BE A PUSSY RAZZ-"

“LIKE YOU SHOULD BE SAYING ANYTHING ASSHOLE-“

“LANGUAGE! THERE ARE CHILDREN AROUND!”

“oh, here they are.” It wasn’t long before the skeletons that they had ditched earlier strolled into the store (minus Lust) and both Blue and Edge immediately went towards Omorose while Sans followed, really just checking on the children in her hold. “sup kiddos, ya’ll alright?”

"Yeah, Mo-Mo was lookin' after bro while me and Mer had some fun." The smol Sans was careful not to mention the potted plant he'd broken, appearing the very image of innocence.

Pup turned to face the other skeletons, smiling at them from Omorose's shoulder. "Mo-Mo is funny and comfy! And high up! Tall Mo-Mo is tall!"

“Mm. I am curious as to what my exact height is.” Omorose supplied, gently bouncing Kit on her hip as she mused to herself. It appeared she had a built-in mothering instinct of sorts buried beneath her abject cluelessness.

“so I guess you’re doin’ alright then…” Sans seemed to hesitate before looking at Omorose. “and uh… what about you kid?”

“Oh, acquiring knowledge about magic’s response to the purity of metals.” She replied, smiling congenially in return. “T’was a small tidbit however. I wish to acquire as much knowledge as possible about this world. It shall increase my chances of survival if I am ever separated from my caretakers.”

“SMART.” Edge nodded his approval while Raspberry kept his distance, still quite salty from before.

“YOU’D PROBABLY REALLY LIKE BOOKSTORES THEN.” Blueberry responded, placing a hand on his hip.

“Book… stores?”

Meraki's grin widened slowly, as she lowered her stolen shades to gaze at Omorose. Bookstores. _Bookstores._

"One of mortals' greatest treasures, in my opinion. Material possessions are eventually fleeting, eroding away into dust if given enough time, but knowledge is eternal if well kept. You can know something, and record it to be shared with others, and the collective hoard of a species' knowledge grows ever greater. Everything people know today is because it was built off of the knowledge their ancestors knew, and books are a particularly favored way to share this information." She pushed the shades back up over her eyes, tilting her head slightly. "The dictionary you read in the Anti-Void was a book, so I'm sure you can see the usefulness. Carrying books purposed for both education and entertainment, the sheer amount of information available within a good bookstore is immense."

“…….” Omorose went very quiet and still at this information, her violet eyes growing wide and bright, twinkling almost like gems as she stared at Meraki.

…..This was concerning.

“…Mo-Mo? You okay?” Pup asked in worry, while his brother waved his hand in front of her eyes with a frown in an attempt to get her to respond.

“omorose.exe has stopped working.” Sans joked a bit, but still eyed her warily. “wait for it…”

“May… we visit this store of books…?” She asked softly, looking as excited as a child saying they were about to get their favorite toy in the world.

"And here I thought I would have to suggest turning it off and then back on again," Seriff snorted, a small stack of clothes for the Void-Child and himself accumulating on the counter.

The dragoness casually turned away, facing the exit of the Hot Topic they were in with a playfully pensive expression. When she spoke, it was clearly a joking tone she used, but that calculating gleam in her eyes was suspicious. "For the low, low price of one small babybones, yes we may."

"there will be no marketing of babybones." Party pooper.

"But they're so adorable! I just wanna add them to my hoard. I shall treat them well!" Meraki turned to Kit and Pup, widening her warm cognac eyes and attempting to give them an adorably pleading expression. "Can I add you two to my hoard? Pleeeaaaase?"

“WHILE SENSING NO MALICIOUS INTENT, I’M QUESTIONING THE ETHICS ON BARTERING LITTLE CHILDREN ON SUCH A THING…” Blueberry brought to attention, feeling slight exasperation as Raspberry huffed and gave Omorose a light glare. Noticing this, she handed the children over to Sans as he reached out for them, before making her way over to the salty skelly.

“Mister Raspberry, is something th-“

“THAT IS LIEUTENANT TO YOU.” She blinked before immediately amending her words without a second thought.

“Are you well, Lieutenant Raspberry?” He gave a jolt, purely from the fact that she actually said it, before scowling and turning his face away. “Shall I take that as a negative?”

“I HAVE NO USE TO SPEAKING TO OFFENSIVE PEOPLE.”

“…..I have said something offensive…?” She asked in confusion before an odd look came to her face. “I offer my apologies, allow me to fix my wrongdoings.” She made a move to reach out to him, but he took a step back in suspicion.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?”

“Fixing my disrespectful actions with a ‘cuddle’.” His sockets widened before he continued to back up, sidestepping her little grabs for him.

“CEASE WITH THIS FOOLISHNESS.”

“But I must-“

“I DO NOT WANT SUCH SILLY PORTRAYALS OF AFFECTION.” She stared at him for a moment before she gained the expression of… Determination.

“I _shall_ accomplish my task despite your derision for it.”

“NO. STAY WHERE YOU ARE.” He continued to retreat, but she advanced to match with every step. “NO. NO.” It was with complete shame and panic that he turned and bolted out of the store but Omorose quickly pursued. “DESIST YOU INSANE WOMAN!”

“Allow me to complete my physical affection!”

“Ooooh!” Pup grinned before racing after them. “Hurry brother! First one to catch Mo-Mo is the winner!”

“No fair, you got a head start!” Kit shot after them with a battle cry, not going to admit defeat that easy.

"Jashin-sama has given me the opportunity I need. THIS GOOD LUCK SHALL NOT GO TO WASTE!" Meraki was quick to follow them, only pausing in the doorway to send a wicked grin back towards the others. "If I capture a babybones or adorable skeleton from this point onwards, they are automatically a part of my hoard."

And with that little declaration, the woman turned and fucking _sprinted_ after the runaway four, cackling loudly with delight as she leapt over the broken plant from earlier.

The skeletons took a moment to think through what had just occurred, Sans speaking when it finally clicked. "...fuck."

"LANGUAGE!" Alas, Blueberry's goals for verbal cleanliness were pushed farther with every curse out of Sans and Edge's mouths.

"ENGLISH. WHO THE FUCK IS JASHIN-SAMA? SOUNDS LIKE SOMETHING FROM THAT ANIME BULLSHIT THAT UNDYNE LIKES."

...Off in the distance, Spear of Justice began to play, causing the pursued Raspberry to glance around in wariness.

"It's not a bad thing for them to become part of her hoard, Sans." Seriff said, carrying the bags of his now-purchased clothing and accessories. "Think of it as... having a second family." He looked to the side, "Or in my case, third."

He paused, before slowly turning towards Edge, **_"What the fuck did you just call anime you bitch-heeled bastard?"_**

It was at that moment that Edge knew... he fucked up.


	7. Difficulty Level: Hard

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ulti: *looks at chapter title* ......................JUST LIKE MY _DICK_  
>  Opti: *Facepalms.*

“ooooh, sugar would look so sexy in these~.” Lust gushed to himself as he picked out a white lacy set of underwear, complete with sling-net stockings. “or maybe a nude color…? innocent she is, but perhaps white might clash too much with her skin color… hm.”

If you guessed Lust was in a lingerie store by now, you’d be absolutely right. Fashionista though he was, this was more his area of expertise for obvious reasons. Thanks to Seriff and his foresight to write down her measurements, he knew exactly what sizes to get.

The sweet girl was incredibly well-endowed. Hopefully he get to catch a peek before his inevitable death by Mother Hens. **COUGHCOUGHSERIFFANDMERAKICOUGH**

Anyways, he was minding his own business as he looked through several pairs of underwear and ruling out the patterns that would definitely clash with a critical socket, thinking that he wished Omorose was there to try the articles of clothing on, when he heard it.

“DISCONTINUE YOUR FOOLHARDY ATTEMPTS TO HUG ME WOMAN!”

Oh yeah, that was definitely the irate shrieking of the annoying yet hot Raspberry.

But why was he screaming about a woman…?

“This shall only continue until you allow me to ‘cuddle’ you, lieutenant!”

“Go go, Mo-Mo!”

“Whoooo, this is awesome~!!” His skull whipping to the side as the sound of the lady of the hour and the babybones’ voice, he blinked in surprise as he watched Raspberry speed by the entrance looking incredibly panicked and harried as he glanced behind him.

…..Ohhhhh. Well, that was convenient.

"I wanna be an airborne ranger! I wanna live a life of danger!" Meraki could be heard singing loudly in the distance, slightly farther away than the kids.

Honestly, it was a wonder that security hadn't been called at this point.

"PUNK, SOMEONE DISSED ANIME NEARBY AND I GOTTA TEACH THEM THE ERROR OF THEIR BLASPHEMY!"

"Oh yeah, hey Undyne! They're off in the Hot Topic around the corner, past the overturned plant that somebody broke the pot of. The tall one, called Edge. Sans is there too, so ya know which group to look for. Have fun!"

"Great, THANKS!"

This brief conversation was so loud, it carried all the way into the store Lust was in. Somehow, it wasn't very surprising for him to hear that Undyne and Meraki were friends... but if they were audible, even from a distance, Omorose was much closer. Raspberry's own shouts and backwards glances had made it clear that he was being chased by the Void-Woman, and Lust wanted to catch the woman for some... modeling.

Approaching the entrance of the store, the skeleton in the purple and blue vest waited for his prey to come to him, an arm ready to pull her in.

As luck would have it, a quick flash of color sped past Raspberry, catching him completely by surprise.

And then he tripped.

He fell to the ground with a loud clatter, releasing a shout of despair as he did. It was with rising dread that he could hear the joyful shouts of the children and heavy footfalls of Omorose growing closer.

“While unfortunate I shall be utilizing an unfair disadvantage, I hope you are prepared to be ‘cuddled’ Lieutenant!” He glanced back in horror, just in time to see Omorose set to spring with a bright grin on her face and the children coming in close behind her.

She pounced…..

And then disappeared out of thin air.

……………..

Wat.

“……Eh?! Where’d Mo-Mo go, she almost had him!”

“I… I dunno bro, but she’s gotta be somewhere!"

Finally catching up to the babyblasters, Meraki slid across the floor on her knees and scooped them up into her arms- one each- cackling with delight as they slid to a stop in front of the store that Lust was in. 

"As new additions to my hoard, I hereby bequeath unto you my badass legacy. If you learn well and earn it, I shall tell you your new clan name!"

Raspberry wisely used this opportunity to flee back in the direction from whence he came, keeping a careful watch out for a potential surprise hug from Omorose. His pride and image had been damaged enough, _thank-you-very-much_ , and he didn't need hugs to completely ruin it. At least the dragoness-bitch didn't care about such things involving him, and simply continued bothering with the babybones.

As the FellSwap Sans finally rounded the corner and escaped, the last thing he heard out of them was a question from Pup, asked in a befuddled tone of voice. "Mer, what's a hoard?"

Kit, however, was focused upon Omorose, and redirected the conversation with worried glances cast around them. "Bro, we gotta find Mo-Mo first. She just vanished!" He sounded slightly upset.

"Nah, don't worry. You're too young or unfocused to have seen it clearly, but she was just pulled into the store beside us. The..." As Meraki turned to face the store in question, she trailed off, her shades showing _'... ...'_ as the text on it.

"...lingerie store."

“Lingerie store…?” Pup asked in complete confusion. “What’s that?”

“Looks like another kind of clothing store bro.” Kit replied, looking at the window displays. “But… they don’t seem to cover much of anything.”

"Yep. Lingerie is a type of underwear, sold with the intention of giving people a confidence boost in their visual desirability. Much like other clothing, but with a more sexual connotation in general."

With the two babybones tucked securely beneath her arms, Meraki stood up and entered the store, an amused expression upon her face at finding Lust already present with a lot of cute and sexy underwear ready for Omorose to try on.

"...and it's because of this sexual connotation that I am not surprised to see Lust here whatsoever. Hello there Lust, I presume you're picking out the best and only the best for Omorose, here?"

The short skeleton nodded, waggling his brow ridges suggestively as he held up a few matching sets of bras and panties. "hey, she's gotta look good in this style too. if you think i'm letting those guys pick out her underwear, you're trippin' on some good stuff."

The dragoness smirked and nodded, casting her gaze over to the Void-woman in particular. "As long as she's okay with it, I can accept that logic. You alright with this, Beautiful?"

“I find no qualms with it.” Omorose replied, shrugging in her incomprehension as she rubbed some silky material between her fingers in fascination. “Mmm… I find how this feels against my skin very agreeable.”

Meraki tilted her head at the fabric, reaching out to feel it for herself after setting down Pup. She was quite well-informed of the value of various items and materials, having been taught this by both her deceased ancestors and her own experiences.

"Smoother materials like this are very comfortable- silk and satin- but they're not the most durable. If reinforced, infused, or upkept with magic, as with most things, they can last quite a while longer than their natural state, which is one reason why monsters tend to wear their outfits longer than a human would in one go."

Pausing for a moment, the dragoness tilted her head and regarded the selection within the store as a whole, noticing that it was filled with human name brands and designs. "Another reason is availability- many monsters have odd physical shapes that aren't supported by humanoid standards, and not everyone can manipulate the shape of their clothing to fit them perfectly."

Releasing the article, she turned to Lust and began looking through the particular underwear and lingerie that he'd chosen, choosing a few pieces and a nice robe made of black lace and mesh. With that, she turned and handed these articles to Omorose, a lazy grin on her face. "Here, try these on in the dressing room and call me for help if you need it."

“Yes Madame.” Omorose nodded once as she grasped the articles handed to her, before being ushered into the changing room by Lust. As much as he would’ve liked to see her most intimate suit, he’d rather not deal with the blowup that would surely follow. Meraki herself was bad, but any of the others would-

“WHY ARE YOU ALL HERE IN SUCH A SCANDALOUS STORE!?”

Oh well, speak of the devil.

Blueberry stared into the store, his hands on his hips and a firm glare upon his face. There was a light blush upon his face, tinted blue magic reflecting off of the beads and sequins of fancy nearby nightgowns, and it seemed to be getting slightly darker with each second he spent looking at the various options available.

"Don't worry Blueberry, I've got this under control. Lust's choices have been sorted through by me, and you already know that I've taken Omorose under my protection. Ya think I'm gonna let Lust get away with anything grossly indecent involving her?" Meraki winked at the lantern of a skeleton, amused at his rapidly shifting gaze.

Finally deciding on a place he could stare without blushing, the Swap Sans kept his gaze firmly on the ceiling, and entered the store to wave a gloved finger disapprovingly in the faces of the two. "YET YOU'RE PICKING OUT SUCH INDECENT CLOTHES FOR HER AS WELL! THEY MAY BE LESS EXPOSING, BUT STILL! IT'S THE PRINCIPLE OF THE MATTER!"

"do you suggest we let the girl go without any underwear at all?"

"NO! BUT SHE DOESN'T NEED THINGS LIKE THIS YET! SHE'S TOO INNOCENT, AND YOU JUST WANT TO SEE HER IN _YOUR_ INAPPROPRIATE STYLE!"

"pot, meet kettle. kettle, this is pot. hello pot, nice to meet you."

"YES, YES, I UNDERSTAND THAT WE'RE BOTH METAPHORICALLY BLACK, BUT SHE'S STILL TOO INNOCENT! SHE DOESN'T EVEN KNOW HOW TO... WHAT TO... WHY..." He faltered, trying to find the right words to say without being crude. "...HOW THESE CLOTHES ARE INAPPROPRIATE FOR DAILY USE!"

At this moment, Meraki cut back in, dropping a pair of soft, lacy panties upon Blueberry's face. "AHHHHHHH-"

"I refuse to let Beautiful get anything less than the best. If the best happens to be in this lingerie store, which it apparently is because she is pleased with the comfortable quality, then I shall get her underwear from here."

“BUT YOU ALSO HAVE THE BABYBONES IN THIS STORE AS WELL!!” Blue squeaked out, gingerly tossing off the fabric with an extremely embarrassed look. “THEY ARE NOT OLD ENOUGH TO SEE THINGS OF THIS… UM… CALIBER!”

“Bluuuuuue, we’re not that young!”

“Yeah!”

“HUSH LITTLE ONES, ADULTS ARE TALKING AT THE MOMENT-“

Meraki shrugged, patting the skull of the Kit still in her arms. "Learning experiences can happen anywhere! For example- Pup, what have you learned about silk and satin compared to other materials?"

"That they're not as dur... dura... um..." He paused, an expression of concentration forming as he tried to find words he knew to describe it. "They're not as strong as other things! Unless given magic and made magical!"

The dragoness purred with glee, leaning over to kiss the skull of the babybones. "Excellent! Good job paying attention, young one. I am definitely rewarding you later on. You and Kit both."

“Oh, is that Mister Blue’s soft tenor I am auscultating?” Omorose spoke from the dressing room, drawing attention as she poked her head out to see those assembled there. “Ah, indeed it is. Hello Mister Blue.”

Hearing Omorose address the newest arrival to the store, Meraki turned to face her, and grinned. "Lookin' good, does everything fit correctly?"

“Oh yes, it feels heavenly.” Omorose confirmed, stepping out of the stall to unintentionally show off her curvy form garbed in the lacy but still covering underwear and robe. Due to her ignorance, she did not tie the robe shut, so it hung slightly open around her bust and midriff area. “Although… it is a bit uncomfortable around my bosom.”

“uncomfortable how, sugar?” Lust asked, approaching as Blueberry quickly covered the children’s eyes and skittered backwards while making unintelligible sounds of discomfort.

“It is… tight. Restricting, I should say.”

“eh? i know it’s the right size… oh, ya probably have to adjust it. come here sweetheart, lemme just-“ Turning the girl around and lightly pulling down the back of the robe (much to Blueberry’s dismay) he suddenly stopped short. “…..whoa, this is a sexy tattoo ya got here sugar~.”

"Ooh a tattoo? What is it?" Meraki left the babybones to the temporary care of Blueberry, thinking that he was a responsible enough person for the job from his reaction to the lingerie store itself.

The skeleton in the purple plum vest stepped slightly aside for the dragoness to see, describing the tattoo as he did so. "wings of some sort. like bat wings or demon wings. leathery, kinda. maybe the wings of a delightful succubus~"

"EEEEE THOSE ARE DRAGON WINGS!"

Those present paused, and stared at Meraki for several moments in curiosity. That was the loudest and most excited they'd heard her thus far- of the shopping group, including current absentees, only Seriff had previously heard the dragoness in such a state. She sounded like Alphys about to go on an anime spree.

"THE WINGS OF MY PEOPLE ON MY CHARGE! It's so BEAUTIFUL! Omorose, you're living up to your name~"

“Tattoo…?” Omorose murmured quietly as she glanced back at Meraki’s excited shout, blinking curiously. “I have a tattoo on my back…?”

“…you didn’t know that, sweetness?”

“GIVEN THE FACT THAT SHE HAD NEVER SEEN HER REFLECTION BEFORE YESTERDAY, IT IS NOT VERY SURPRISING.” Blueberry answered, trying very hard to keep from staring in her direction. “COULD SHE PLEASE PUT ON SOME DECENT CLOTHING NOW?!”

"She could if she wants to, this outfit is enough to tell what styles would go best with her. Right?" 

Lust nodded in agreement, already moving to put away several articles which would definitely clash with the Void-woman's current appearance, but keeping a few other choices handy just in case her hair color changed again. He'd noticed her say that her hair used to be white, back when she was in the Anti-Void... It was best to be prepared for more smokin' hot looks~.

Meraki, oblivious to Lust's current train of thought, added on to what she'd been saying before. "Also, I am suddenly finding myself with the desire to find various types of backless tops and dresses for her. Halter tops, tank tops- those types." 

The woman in the _'Boss Bish'_ shades quite liked the tattoo, or rather, what it signified. Her inner dragon was very pleased by what it perceived as a mark of ownership, a mark of protection, and it was being particularly insistent on said mark being displayed so others wouldn't dare lay a finger on her charge... Damn, she'd gotten attached to Omorose pretty fast.

Going to get changed again, Omorose spoke as she struggled to place everything where Seriff had settled on her before. “And where, pray tell, do we acquire the articles of clothing that you have spoke of?”

"Oh, there are many places. There are probably already several that have been obtained by the others, and I'll let you in on a little secret." Leaning in towards the dressing room, Meraki spoke quieter, a playful tone to her voice. "I can alter clothes very, _very_ easily."

“Oooooh, I would be very happy if you taught me this particular skill,” Omorose replied as she strolled back out of the dressing room, wrapping the shawl around her shoulders. Now that the view was safe, Blueberry released a particularly relieved sigh as he uncovered the children’s eyes once more.

"That can likely be done. Your magic range seems to be expansive enough, and your soul shares color with my own. My typical methods may have to be altered due to your soul having multiple colors, but this should be easy enough. I'll see about adding it to your training sessions back at the mansion!" 

Meraki nodded decisively, and brought the final chosen clothes over to the counter to be purchased, leaving behind several bewildered skeletons. Why were they bewildered? Well...

"SHE HAS MULTIPLE SOUL COLORS?" Blueberry hadn't yet looked at Omorose's soul, because that was a private thing he wasn't exactly comfortable with looking at without permission.

"you can see her soul without _pulling it out_ first?" Lust had already taken a look himself, and there were plenty of underwear choices to reflect that, but it was unusual for other monsters to be able to do so. He and the other Sans equivalents had the ability due to a combination of their skeletal heritage, magic strength, boss monster statuses, and Judge roles, but Meraki had none of these things... right?  "i thought only boss monsters could do that."

With the purchase complete, the dragoness turned and handed the bags to Lust, giving him something appropriate to occupy his arms with... heh. "Yes, yes, and also technically yes. From what I've observed only boss monsters can view the souls of others without removing them, but that's only relevant to monsters. I am neither human nor monster."

The two adult skeletons paused, glancing at each other over the heads of the babyblasters before Blueberry spoke up. "ARE YOU A HYBRID OF SOME SORT?"

"Nah, I'm an Immortal. Haven't you asked Seriff about his universe yet? There are three main species there. And now, here, if my assessment of Omorose is correct."

"assessment?" Lust continued, an expression of innocent curiosity upon his face. Really, that expression would be much more believable worn by Blueberry, but Meraki didn't really care about sharing this information. Better to let him believe she fell for it anyways.

"I believe she is also an Immortal. I'm not certain what type, if she is any type I'm familiar with, but she fits under the basic categorization of one by not aging after adulthood and not requiring food to survive."

“Soooo cool…” Kit murmured as he stared up Omorose and Meraki in admiration, the aforementioned Void-woman tilting her head curiously at the way the conversation turned.

“Immortal… Not to be prideful, but that assessment may indeed be correct, as I have remained in the Anti-Void for a long time with no sustenance whatsoever.” Her brows furrowed slightly as she opened her mouth to speak but her head turned to the side at the voices she heard coming from the entrance once again.

“WHY IN THE NINE LAYERS OF HELL ARE YOU IN THIS DISGRACE OF A STORE?!” There came the voice of a roughed-up Edge, looking particularly grumpy as Sans stood next to him with pitch black sockets and a strained grin.

“what the-“

“Sans!!” Kit and Pup ran up to the classic version, bright stars in their sockets. “Mo-Mo has more than one soul color!! Can we see it? Pretty please?!”

Sans choked slightly, the eyelights returning to his sockets out of pure shock. "babybones, ya don't just ask that out in public! and ya don't ask me, ya ask the one whose soul it is! sheesh kids, thought we'd taught ya that much already."

Kit narrowed his large sockets at his older counterpart, and turned to Meraki with a dramatic sniff. "I smell the smell of hypocrisy in here! Mer, do you smell it too?"

Oh stars, the _sass_ of this child. Did he even know what the word meant?

"Hypocrisy, you say? What naughty adult skeleton monsters." The dragoness grinned in amusement, not really caring one way or the other about looking at others' souls, but knowing what that meant in monster culture. "Perhaps when we get back to the mansion, we should put them in time-out."

The smol Sans looked pleased at the idea, and sent a mischievous grin towards the Classic and Lust Sanses. "That sounds like a great idea, Mer! And me and Paps- I mean Pup- can have nice cream for being good role models, right?"

"Definitely, nice cream is an excellent reward for being good role models. You'll have to tell me which skeletons are so rude as to look at souls without permission, so I know who we have to capture and who we can reward with nice cream."

Pup squealed in excitement at this idea of capturing skeletons, going to join Meraki and Kit in their shenanigans and puzzle trap plans, but Sans scooped him up close before he could do so. "oh no you don't. you're staying right here with me, outside of the lingerie store, until raspberry and seriff arrive and we can all go home."

Lust coughed a bit self-consciously as Blueberry glared at both Sanses, appalled by their rudeness. Edge was looking a bit self-righteous himself.

“we were pretty much done in here anyway…” Lust mumbled.

“SERIFF WAS TOO BUSY LAUGHING HIS ASS OFF AT UNDYNE ACCOSTING ME,” Edge searched around warily just in case the mere sound of her name would bring her back, “AND I BELIEVE AFTERWARDS HE WENT TO THE CANDY SHOP. SAID SOMETHING ABOUT WANTING THE VOID WOMAN TO TRY CANDY FOR THE FIRST TIME. AND RASPBERRY… I’M NOT SURE WHERE HE WENT. MIGHT HAVE GONE WITH HIM SINCE THE CREATURE SEEMED TO HAVE… UNNERVED HIM.” Edge glanced over to Omorose, who merely stared back innocently. If he didn’t know better, he would have said that she was faking that look...

"I suppose it's in our best interests to meet up with them there, since we're all done here. Edge, wanna lead the way?" The tall skeleton smirked and turned, sauntering forth as his answer. Directly behind him, Meraki followed, singing in time to their footsteps. "We're off to see the wizard~"

Kit went over to Sans and tugged Pup from his hold without much effort, turning up his nonexistent nose at the older's presence before going to walk beside Omorose. The Classic skeleton watched this with a mixture of shock and amusement- a common expression to be upon his skull when the babyblasters did something unexpected. Was he this sassy as a kid? Did _all of them_ have such attitude? If so, Seriff apparently never grew out of it.

Omorose smiled as the babybones drew close to her sides, and as they both offered her a hand, took them and swung her arms with soft giggles leaving them. Blueberry rushed ahead of them in his usual excited manner to speak to Meraki.

“SO MISS, WE’VE GOTTEN ALL OF HER CLOTHING ITEMS OUT THE WAY… WHAT ABOUT A MAKEOVER NEXT?”

“I THOUGHT YOU WERE PLANNING TO DO TRAINING NEXT?” Edge called out behind himself with a sassily cocked brow ridge, gaining an angry puffed up expression in return.

“I AM! AND SHE IS LOVELY, NO MISTAKE ABOUT IT, BUT HER HAIR IS A LITTLE… WILD.”

Cutting off the argument before it could truly begin, Meraki answered the question. "Well, there is a hair salon nearby the candy store. And there's a spa next to it. Hair and nails are a definite yes for this venture, maybe some exfoliation treatments..."

Blueberry considered this for moment, gaining a confused expression on his skull as he asked another. "WHAT'RE EXFOLIATION TREATMENTS?"

"THEY'RE FOR CREATURES WITH SKIN LIKE HUMANS, IDIOT. DEAD SKIN CELLS COLLECT ON THE SURFACE OF THE SKIN, AND EXFOLIATION TREATMENTS REMOVE THEM WITH MORE EFFICIENCY THAN THEIR TYPICAL BATHING RITUALS."

The shorter skeleton slowly turned to stare at Edge, and received an unimpressed look back at him, along with a healthy serving of attitude. "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU LOOKING AT?"

"...SOMEONE I NEVER THOUGHT COULD BE A MAKEOVER FASHIONISTA."

"WELCOME TO THE ASSUMPTION CLUB OF ASSHOLES. TAKE YOUR COMPLIMENTARY GIFT BAG SHIT AND GET OUT."

While those two were providing decent entertainment for Meraki, the two lazy skeletons present were lagging in the back of the group, somehow having gotten stuck with carrying the shopping bags. If one of the kids or Omorose looked back, they'd see a royal blue blush upon Sans' skull, as Lust flirted with him. "look at you carrying all those bags... have you been working out, handsome?"

"no, and we're the same person, you already know how strong i am."

"are you sure? for a guy with no muscles, you're looking pretty ripped~"

"lust, i am literally the laziest of us all, i don't work out. with your stripper job back in underlust, you're in better shape than i am."

"if you need a few tips, i can always give you one or two, or a few... as many as you want."

"i don't want any tips right now, thanks."

"aw, all work and no play... i can give you plenty of tips for relaxation purposes as well."

"why do i get the feeling we're not talking about actual advice here?"

As they strolled along towards the candy shop, the usual antics and arguments of those present went on, garnering amused attention from passerby. It was because of these usual antics that no one seemed to notice that there was something different…

It wasn’t long after all of this that they had actually made it to their destination, the sweet smell of unhealthy food wafting in the air.

“AH, WE’VE MADE IT~!”

"Yeet yeet!" Meraki was quick to enter the store of delicious candy, Blueberry being close behind her as they passed by Edge. He soon entered as well, and then, Sans and Lust finished up the group's entry. The scents of the various types of candy had the dragoness looking at the displays, utterly distracted as she bumped into Seriff. "Ayyyyy~"

"Oi, there ya guys are." He hummed, holding a grocery basket filled to the brim with different candy. "Was wondering how long it'd be when you'd get here...."

He would admit, he had a bit of a sweet tooth, so most of this was both for him and Omorose.

Speak of the Devil... "Uh, Where's Rose?"

Raspberry, who had immediately hid upon hearing the group entered the store, popped up from his spot behind the sour candy (which he was a slut for, to be honest) when he heard that Rose was not in sight. His eyesights moved from side to side suspiciously before he noticed something else.

“…WHERE ARE KIT AND PUP, WHILE WE ARE ON THE SUBJECT?”

"WAIT... THEY'RE MISSING?" Edge turned around and faced those behind him, an intense scowl upon his face. "ALRIGHT, WHICH OF YOU IMBECILES LOST TRACK OF OMOROSE AND THE CHILDREN?"

Meraki and Blueberry glanced at each other, and shook their heads, indicating that it hadn't been them. Together, they turned to face Sans and Lust, who looked somewhat overloaded with bags. Sans even had a bag covering his line of sight... probably not the best thing for keeping an eyesocket on someone.

"uhh..." Lust knew that the blame fell on him. And like an adult, he accepted it... and promptly dropped his bags and ran out screaming that he'd find the missing ones or get fucked trying.

A prompt facepalm was the reaction of Edge, as he went ahead and picked up the bags that Lust had dropped. "FUCKING IDIOTS, ALL OF YOU."

"You can't just put the blame on Lust. All of you are to blame... 'cept Sans I guess because he had a shit ton of bags..." Seriff sighed, rubbing his nasal bridge.

Raspberry frowned, placing his hand on his hips as he glared at those present. “SHAMEFUL HOW LUST WAS THE ONLY ONE TO GO RUNNING IMMEDIATELY AFTER REALIZING THEY WERE GONE AS WELL. TWO CHILDREN AND A POWERFUL UNTRAINED WOMAN WHO MIGHT AS WELL BE AN INFANT STROLLING AROUND A LARGE STORE FILLED WITH PEOPLE WHO MAY OR MAY NOT HATE MONSTERS, WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG?!” Throwing his hands up, he bolted out of the store himself, running after Lust with the same goal in mind.

"I'm 17 and still more responsible than 4 fucking adults...." Seriff muttered, "What the ever lovin' fuck guys..." Luckily he had already paid for the candy, so he was the third to take off. Before he did, he turned towards the others and narrowed his eyes, "I am soooo tellin' Geno about this."

With that, he left.

"WAIT NO DON'T TELL GENO!" Blueberry was quick to dart after Seriff, a panicked expression on his skull. This left Sans, Meraki, and Edge alone in the store, and with Sans and Edge carrying all the bags, they all knew who had to help find the missing beings.

Hah, as if she'd refuse! "Alright, you two wait together by the information desk in the front lobby. Edge, you'll keep watch of the bags with Sans, and Sans, I need your phone."

"uh sure. why do you need it?"

Meraki went ahead and took the phone from his pocket, allowing him to keep his focus on the bags in his arms. "Because you have their numbers. I can start up a group call on your phone, and everyone can be coordinated." 

As she spoke, she did so, setting up a group chat and calling everyone who'd been on the shopping trip. Edge's phone rang audibly, and she answered it for him, placing the answered phone on speaker and setting it in his hands. "There you go. Off to the lobby with you two, and I'm off to help the others."

With that, the dragoness sauntered off with Sans' phone, leaving the two skeletons to shrug at each other and make their way towards the lobby.

* * *

_Meanwhile, with the innocent ones…_

“Are you sure this is the way to the bookstore brother?”

“Yeah! This is the way that kiosk map said, so we’re just following the path to it!”

“Very well Kit, we shall follow you without complaint then.” Omorose nodded in acknowledgement, following the pull of the excited Kit through the various crowds of people that walked with and against their flow. They garnered many strange looks; An adult woman with two monster children holding their hands and looking extremely happy was not a common sight.

"Ayyyyy wassup sistah, lil' broskis?" Wheeling up out of seemingly nowhere, Fresh appeared beside the three, rolling along casually atop his skateboard. He'd actually been following them the whole time, and now that they'd been separated from the others, it was the perfect time to reveal his radical presence.

 **“Fresh~!”** The children called out in excitement, while Omorose smiled politely over to him.

“Hello Mister Fresh. I had not known that you were here as well."

Somehow, the skateboard seemed to keep moving without ever being pushed. It must be magic-powered... "Just got here, yo! So what're you bomb diggity peeps doin'? Heard something about a bookstore?"

“Yeah! Mo-Mo wanted to go to the bookstore, so we’re taking her there! Though I think brother might have gotten us lost…” Pup frowned over to Kit a little, who immediately gained an offended expression.

“I did not!”

“Now now, no need to quibble.” Omorose interrupted, giving them both a light smile before she turned to Fresh again. “I find the acquisition of knowledge to be quite necessary.”

"Lucky for you fine peeps, I know where the nearest bookstore is! Might not be the one you're lookin' for, but learnin's radical, yo?" The neon-clad skeleton casually tossed an arm over Omorose's shoulders, picking up one of the babybones to make room for himself. 

A few nearby people gave them looks of disgust, thinking that they were a family and not approving of the inter-species relationship, but Fresh was oblivious to the reasoning of their abruptly malicious auras. As far as he knew, he was just huggin' a fellow Anti-Void pal, and they were cruisin' for a rad time.

“Sounds lovely. I thank you for showing us the way.” The lady smiled at the nonchalant contact and nodded, a bit oblivious to the nasty looks they were getting. Kit huddled a bit closer to Omorose’s thigh though, and gripped her hand a bit tighter as they walked along. 

Omorose did notice the slight uneasiness of the children however, and gently gave them consoling touches to help them relax.

"Totes welcome, rad sistah!" Thinking that it wouldn't be beneficial for Omorose or the babybones to be harmed at this juncture, Fresh guided them to the bookstore quickly, stopping only when in front of the entrance. With a slight widening to his grin, he contemplated making her clothes neon like his own again, but ultimately decided to keep a low profile by just setting Pup down next to his bro and wheeling back a bit.

With a couple well-aimed fingerguns, Fresh began to roll away, sending a playful tone to the three as he did so. "Here ya go, brahs! Catch ya on the flip side!"

 **“Bye Fresh!”** The babybones cheerfully waved goodbye as Omorose did the same with a pleasant smile before the three went trapaising inside.

Nearby, a single yellow slitted eye watched the exchange with a small confused frown. “Huh…”

"Mo-Mo, I wanna look at the sci-fi books first! They've got stories and science stuffs that the others say are fake, but I think they're still cool." Kit tugged at Omorose's sleeve, pointing at the sign labeled 'Sci-Fi/Fantasy' over a shelf of books nearby as he spoke. Of course, Pup had a disagreement with this notion.

"I wanna look at puzzle and trap books so we can capture the natty... not... naughty skeletons!"

“We can look at both little ones, not to worry…” Omorose compromised, looking around at the large collection of books. She was actually struck into awed silence at the mere sight before the babybones demanded her attention again. To be very honest, she wanted to be everywhere at once, but since she couldn’t (read: hadn’t figured out how to do so yet), she would stick with the children at first. “Which area is closest? We can make a route to both sections.”

"Puzzles are closer!" Pup surged onwards with glee, an unusual amount of strength within his small body. Perks of being a monster, it seemed. Behind the two, Kit groaned quietly and followed along, figuring that the faster Pup's books were dealt with, the faster he could pick out his own with Omorose.

At the entrance of the store, the owner of the single yellow eye walked in, looking between the three and their phone every few seconds. Coming to a conclusion to their thoughts, a grin slowly spread across their face as they called up a mysterious contact. "Yeah, I found 'em. Will ya pay me now or later?"

They paused, their smirk remaining firm as they listened to the other end. "Bookstore, by the gaudy orange and yellow cafe. Should I rough 'em up a little? Teach 'em a little lesson for running off all on their little lonesome in a crowd of... dangerous people?"

It sounded like this person was up to no good. Alas, they were too far away for Omorose or the babybones to hear... Alas and alack, woe is the innocent ones who were merely shopping for books.

Omorose blinked in surprise as Pup yanked her and his older brother along, but followed willingly towards the puzzle section. She watched attentively as he squealed excitedly over all of the puzzle books and little knick-knacks in this section and after he decided on what he wanted, Kit quickly took the lead and pulled them both to the Sci-Fi section of the store. 

After they had found books that had interested them, they decide to show Omorose towards the non-fiction section to slake her lust for information.

She was unaware of the slightly malicious gazes they had gathered since their entrance.

A short while passed by, a few looks of disgust and self-righteousness cast between various shoppers, until a silent agreement had been reached and one man stepped up close to Omorose. His lips were stretched thin with displeasure, and narrowed eyes settled upon the two babyblasters as he spoke to the Void-woman. "What're you doing with two monster brats, huh? Don't you know that those beasts are bad news?"

His voice was a sickly sort of soft, as though it were candy-coated poison given audible form. Nearby, the owner of the single yellow eye bristled, glancing between Omorose, the man, and the two nervous babybones.

Omorose’s outstretched arm towards a book halted in midair, her head slowly turning to lock gazes with the man that was all up in her personal space all of a sudden. She stared for quite a while in silence, eyes taking in his aggressive stance and dropping down to look at the now frightened expressions of the babybones, who were huddled behind her legs.

She frowned slightly, before looking back up at the man, whose temper seemed to be rising from her silence.

“No, I did not know that. In fact, ever since my arrival, they have been nothing but ‘good news’ for myself.” Her tone was polite, but firm, and she let her head cock slightly to the side as she regarded him. “As a stranger to no doubt myself, and apparently the children that you wrongly dub ‘beasts’, your ignorance seems to cloud your judgment.”

"Ugh, you're actually _in_ with those things? What, are you a slave or something of theirs? Get away from them." He reached forward to grab Omorose's arm, intending on pulling her away from the two _disgusting_ creatures hiding behind her, but a blue, webbed hand grasped his own before he could complete this action.

The owner of the yellow eye stared down at him, her taller stature and firm grip upon his wrist painting an intimidating picture. When he tugged back, the blue-scaled monster released him, going to stand between him and the three innocent ones. "Look buddy, if I were you, I'd avoid making any more of a scene than you already have. Monsters have rights, and have been a part of society for several years now."

The man glared at the fish woman, his temper rising. "And who the fuck are you, her keeper? Fucking mind-controlling beasts, I don't know how else humanity can stand for your existence. You should just go back underneath the mountain where you belong!"

“U-Undyne!” Pup called out in relief, Kit relaxing a lot more now that the former Captain of the Royal Guard was here. It’d be very difficult for them to come to harm with her there.

The same could not be said for the idiotic man and any surrounding obstacles however…

Omorose’s frown deepened further as she leaned around Undyne to speak. “She is not my keeper, but neither are you, sir. That title would fall to Madame Meraki.” She was not liking the intent seeping from the man at all. “I have not come under any influence of mind control since my arrival, and my time spent with monsters has been under my consent, due to the danger this land presents my being. Danger such as yourself, as your aggressive intent would have proved harmful to myself and these children through your misguided actions.”

"Monster lovers like you deserve to be thrown under the mountain with them. Or better yet, just fucking _killed off altogether_!" A switchblade was drawn, and as he surged forward towards the group, he met the unexpectedly powerful force that was Undyne, taking hold of his arm and twisting him down face-first into the ground in a single, swift movement.

"Sir, you are under arrest for assault of an off-duty police officer and attempted assault upon one civilian and two minors. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."

The man struggled, attempting to twist around and stab the bitch holding him. "MONSTER TRASH, GO DIE IN THE MOUNTAIN THAT KEPT YOU AWAY FROM OUR RACE IN THE FIRST PLACE!"

As the handcuffs were secured around the violent man's wrists, Undyne continued speaking, an amused expression upon her face at his ineffectual struggles. "You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand the rights I have just read to you? With these rights in mind, do you wish to speak to me?"

"I FUCKING UNDERSTAND THAT FREAKS LIKE YOU DESERVE TO BURN IN HELL! AND I BET YOUR CHIEF OFFICER AGREES WITH ME!"

As the man was brought up into a standing position, the fish woman pulled out her badge from her pocket, and showed him the label. 'Chief Undyne' it said, and the man scowled deeper, before falling silent. He wasn't going to win this battle, and he knew it.

A few shoppers nearby applauded Undyne's efficient movement- the ones who'd disapproved of the man's way of thinking- and at the entrance, someone whistled in appreciation. "Eyyyy Undyne! Nice takedown, have you been holding out on me?"

It was Meraki, approaching with a phone in both of her hands. One phone- her own- had been recording the incident from her arrival, and was currently in the process of posting it to the Undernet. The other phone- Sans' phone- was currently in a group call, held up to her ear so she could listen to the relieved chatter at the successful location of the missing woman and babybones.

 **“Mer!!”** Kit and Pup shot straight towards the dragoness with relieved tears in their eyes, and promptly tackled her legs. As Undyne smirked over at her while pulling out her phone to call for a pickup, Omorose stared down the man with wide eyes. She shook slightly, surprised by the pure malice the male produced, her magic fizzing defensively through her veins and making the surface of her skin itch.

It was a good thing Undyne showed when she did… Omorose may have accidentally obliterated the man.

"Ayy there babybones, don't you worry. Undyne here had things under control since she entered the store. All she needed was a few reliable witnesses to back her." The dragoness knelt down to pick up the two babyblasters, holding them securely in her arms as the group call got louder.

"SO THEY'RE ALRIGHT?" Raspberry's voice was clear, even with the call's volume turned mostly down.

"Yep, they went to one of the bookstores here. The one by the ugly yellow and orange cafe that looks like happiness and sunshine threw up on it."

"oh, i know that place. it's closed now, right?" Sans spoke now, through Edge's phone due to the absence of his own.

"Yep."

"heh, dream runs it when he's visiting. it's open maybe ten hours every month, at random times, yet people still flock it when it is. anyways, you should probably get to the lobby. if you're fast enough, i'll see about convincing seriff not to tell geno."

"PLEASE DO. GENO BEING ANGRY SIMULTANEOUSLY CONCERNS AND FRIGHTENS ME." Blueberry had never been on the receiving end of the Aftertale Sans' wrath, and the prospect of being so now made him want to avoid such a thing even more than he did before.

"Aye aye!" Pocketing her own phone, Meraki approached Omorose, the two babybones being supported by her arms clinging tightly to her torso. "Alrighty Omorose, you ready to go? Any books ya need bought?"

Omorose remained quiet but shook her head at the question and stuck close to her caretaker, nervously shifting from foot to foot as she stared down the male who glared back hatefully.

“I wish to leave this human’s presence… His intent… _sickens_ me…”

The dragoness nodded, standing between the man to guide Omorose's gaze away from his. "Alrighty, we're off to the lobby! OOOOOHHHHHHH IT'S A WHALE OF A TALE, I'LL TELL YOU, LAD!" With both babybones secure, the dragoness reached over and grasped Omorose's hand in her own, setting a running pace for the lobby as she sang loudly and off-key into the phone. Such a nice shopping trip, yeah?


	8. Training... START!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ulti: Let's get down to business... To defeat... Writer's block!  
> Opti: Did they send me cliffhangers... When I asked... For luck~?!

"OKAY, IN ORDER TO AVOID INCINERATING POTENTIAL THREATS, WE ARE GOING TO MAKE SURE YOU CAN RELIABLY RADIATE AND REABSORB YOUR OWN MAGIC. THIS WILL BE DONE IN A SPECIAL TRAINING ROOM INSIDE OF THE MANSION, ONE REINFORCED TO PREVENT EXCESS MAGIC FROM LEAKING OUT."

The day after the shopping fiasco, Blueberry was leading Omorose down the halls to a series of magic-sealed rooms, intent on beginning her training. It was incredibly early in the morning, the sun barely risen outside, which explained the otherwise uncharacteristic silence of the mansion.

"ONCE YOU CAN RELIABLY ABSORB YOUR OWN MAGIC FROM THE SURROUNDING AREA, IT SHOULD BE EASIER FOR YOU TO STOP YOUR MAGIC IF IT SURGES, BY REDIRECTING IT EITHER BACK INTO YOUR RESERVES OR TOWARDS ANOTHER TARGET. BEING ABLE TO CONSCIOUSLY DIRECT YOUR MAGIC IS, PROBABLY, THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU'LL LEARN TODAY."

“Yes Mister Blue.” Omorose replied softly, a bit intimidated by the deep silence that rested over the mansion. She hadn’t gone back to the room she had shared with Meraki that night, a bit too rattled from her day and the colors of the night to try and attempt stillness. So she had stayed out in the backyard pretty much until dawn. “If I may… I hold a few inquiries…”

The short skeleton turned towards his trainee with great enthusiasm- just like Alphys before him, he'd be training someone to be like a Royal Guard! Not an actual Guard, since he wasn't in the Guard of his own universe, but close to it! Knowledge is relevant no matter what the title is of those who receive and impart it! "INQUIRE AWAY, STUDENT! THERE ARE NO WRONG QUESTIONS TO ASK!"

“Will… W-Will I be able to see my Soul? You’ve all spoken of Souls with such ardor, respect, and reverence that I… can’t help but feel curious about my own. What _is_ a… Soul exactly?” The woman asked with uncertainty, ultimately perplexed with the subject.

"HMM..." Taking on a slightly more serious tone, but no less energetic, the Blueberry opened up the door to an unoccupied training room. "YES. HOPEFULLY TODAY, IF ALL GOES WELL- or even if things go completely awry, as they tend to do in this house- BUT EVEN IF NOT, YOU WILL EVENTUALLY BE ABLE TO SEE YOUR SOUL."

How to describe a soul to someone who knows so little about life? It made the Swap Sans think of how one would describe the color red without using any other colors as reference... A challenging task, but one that the skeleton was ready and willing to undertake!

"TO ANSWER YOUR SECOND QUESTION, A SOUL IS THE VERY CULMINATION OF YOUR BEING! IT IS WHO YOU ARE AT YOUR VERY CORE! HOW AND WHAT YOU FEEL, WHAT THINGS YOU CAN AND CHOOSE TO DO, WHY AND HOW YOU DO THEM, AND EVERYTHING ELSE THAT MAKES A PERSON A PERSON! FEELINGS AND EMOTIONS, CHOICES AND CONSEQUENCES, REASONS AND METHODS! ALL THE INFORMATION IN THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE THAT MAKES YOU BE _YOU_ IS CARRIED WITHIN YOUR SOUL WHETHER SEEN OR UNSEEN!"

“I… see…” She mumbled as she watched him open the door, and strolled inside with him following close behind and closing it behind him. “If it is everything that I am… then it is something to be protected voraciously, I assume…” Her eyes surveyed the room in her usually attentive yet awed manner before she turned back to him. “If I see it… how will I know that it is mine…? What are the basic descriptions of a Soul?”

Blueberry began to think about the various types of souls the skeletons had encountered through travel to alternate universes, and his smile dimmed slightly. He didn't know as much as the others in regards to alternate universes, as he was often seen as one of the skeletons to be 'protected,' but he had managed to learn a great deal along the way thanks to... a few beings in bad places.

"THE SHAPE OF A SOUL DEPENDS UPON THE SPECIES SOMEONE IS, AND WITH ALL THE BEINGS IN THE MULTIVERSE THERE ARE MANY DIFFERENT BASIC DESCRIPTIONS OF A SOUL, BUT I'LL DO MY BEST." The short skeleton decided to start simple. "SOULS GENERALLY COME IN A VARIETY OF COLORS. EVERY COLOR REPRESENTS THE MOST PROMINENT TRAIT WITHIN A PERSON, BUT AT BIRTH, BEINGS DON'T HAVE THEIR OWN SOUL COLORS. WHO AN INFANT IS PLACED AROUND- WHAT COLORS THEIR SOULS ARE- DETERMINES WHAT THEIR TRAIT WILL BE AS THEY GROW AND MATURE, AND THIS COLOR USUALLY SETTLES WITHIN THE FIRST FEW MINUTES OF EXISTENCE. LIFE-CHANGING EVENTS CAN ADD NEW PRIMARY SOUL COLORS TO A PERSON'S SOUL IF THEY DEAL WITH THINGS DIFFERENTLY THAN THOSE OF THEIR TRAIT NORMALLY WOULD, AND THERE ARE SPECIES WITH MULTIPLE SOUL COLORS OCCURRING NATURALLY, BUT THAT IS EXTREMELY RARE."

Scratching his mandible, the Swap Sans continued. "THERE'S A LOT MORE TO COLOR, LIKE MAGIC CAPABILITIES, BUT THAT'S GOING BEYOND THE BASICS. NOW, ANOTHER BASIC TRAIT OF EVERY SOUL IS THE SHAPE- HUMANS HAVE HEART-SHAPED SOULS, LIKE THE HEARTS YOU SEE ON A DECK OF PLAYING CARDS, AND MONSTERS HAVE UPSIDE-DOWN HEART-SHAPED SOULS. PAPERJAM- A CHILD OF INK AND ERROR, SO TO SPEAK- HAS A SOUL SHAPED LIKE A FOUR-PRONGED STAR. HIS SPECIES IS CALLED SKELLINKTONS, AND THEY HAVE SEVEN POSSIBLE SOUL SHAPES- DETERMINED BY WHAT TRAIT IS MOST PRESENT WITHIN THEIR PARENTS WHEN THEY'RE CREATED- AND THEIR SOUL COLORS ARE DETERMINED THE SAME WAY I MENTIONED BEFORE."

After a brief pause, he felt it necessary to clarify something about traits. "...TRAITS CAN BE FELT EVEN IF THEY'RE NOT YOUR NATURAL COLOR, SO YOU KNOW. ANYONE CAN FEEL BRAVE, NOT JUST BEINGS WITH ORANGE SOULS. ANYONE CAN PERSEVERE THROUGH HARDSHIP, EVEN IF THEY DON'T HAVE A PURPLE SOUL. THE COLOR PRIMARILY REPRESENTS THE TRAIT THAT IS MOST PROMINENT WITHIN ONE'S SOUL."

Omorose soaked up the information like a sponge, watching the skeleton intently before giving a silent nod to show her understanding.

“One more question then, for now… will others be joining us soon…?”

"IF I KNOW MY ALTERNATES, SOME OF THEM ARE PROBABLY ALREADY LOOKING FOR US. CERTAINLY PAPYRUS, PROBABLY EDGE AND RASPBERRY, MAYBE SERIFF IN AN HOUR OR TWO, AND THEN AN ASSORTMENT OF OTHERS WILL BEGIN TO SHOW UP!"

"Speak of Satan and he shall come." A deep rumble from a familiar voice spoke up, appearing behind Blueberry. His signature vape had reappeared from like, what, Chapter 2? 3? I don't fucking know. All I know is its back. He took a drag before tilting his head, "What were you guys talkin' bout?"

"AAAHHH!!!" The short skeleton was... just startled. Yes, that's it. Startled. Definitely not scared by the sudden appearance of Seriff out of nowhere and the deep voice that rumbled like the growls of wild beasts in the darkness. He was ONLY STARTLED.

...quickly, the Blueberry dissolved the bone attack behind Seriff, clearing his throat. "I MEAN, GOOD MORNING SERIFF! YOU'RE UP EARLIER THAN YOU USUALLY ARE! DID YOU WORK ALL NIGHT LIKE US SKELETONS ARE PRONE TO DOING?"

".........."

_Memories of old flash before his eyelights. A small skeleton reaching out to him, screaming and begging for help. His right arm outstretched as he tried to grab him and pull him out of the way-_

"Yah. Work. That's why I was awake."

Omorose drew closer and smiled upon Seriff’s arrival, before moving to give him a hug of salutations. “Good morning Mister Seriff. We were just speaking of you. Are you here to survey the training as well?”

"Kinda?" Seriff shrugged. "I still have a few errands to do. But those can wait."

"YOU'RE WELCOME TO OBSERVE OUR TRAINING!" The Swap Sans recovered from his STARTLEMENT, guiding Omorose over to the center of the room and gesturing for her to take a seat.

"RIGHT NOW, WE'RE DOING A CONTROL EXERCISE ON RADIATING, ABSORBING, AND REDIRECTING MAGIC. IF YOU HAVE ANY TIPS, FEEL FREE TO SPEAK UP!"

Omorose plopped onto the ground at Blueberry’s suggestion and sat criss-cross before watching them both with an attentive smile. “I am eager to learn from my caretakers.”

"THEN LET'S GET DOWN TO BUSINESS!"

* * *

_Several hours later..._

Seriff breathed out blue raspberry smelling smoke from his mouth, raising a brow at the interesting situation he was watching, "You guys havin' fun?"

"INDISPUTABLY! ROSE IS A WONDERFUL STUDENT! ALTHOUGH HOW SHE MANAGED TO GET STUCK ON THE ROOF, I'M STILL NOT ENTIRELY CERTAIN OF."

Once Blueberry had finished bringing Omorose up to speed on basic magic control, the training session had been moved to outside the mansion, in a large courtyard intended for such purposes. It was at that time that Papyrus had joined them, and the two energetic skeletons had switched off for Paps to teach the Void-woman how to dodge attacks.

She dodged... a little _too_ well. Neither of her trainers could quite describe the way she'd been surrounded by bone attacks one moment, in the air with blue magic the next, and then suddenly present upon the roof. But hey, at least they knew she wouldn't be able to be hit when she was expecting it!

“That was… disorienting…” Omorose mumbled, wobbling from her spot upon the roof. “Does teleportation usually make the user so… muddled?” She tipped back, falling into her seating position as she tried to make her head (and the scenery) stop spinning.

"It depends on the person." Seriff sighed, putting his vape down for a moment. "I'll get her down." He took a few steps before jumping into the tree closest to him. He grabbed the branch closest to him and pulled him onto it.

"ALRIGHT SERIFF, BE CAREFUL NOT TO FALL!" The skeletons were, amusingly, ignorant to certain qualities of Seriff's which made tree-climbing quite easy.

Below the rooftop area where Omorose was seated, a door in the side of the house opened, and a few skeletons curious about the training shuffled out to sit on some lawn chairs with umbrellas conveniently placed to give them some shade. Among these skeletons were Syrup and Orion, as well as a few previously unseen inhabitants of the mansion- Geno, Fuzz, and Spike. Geno was, apparently, the 'mom' of the mansion. Somehow, some way, he'd been put in charge of the others, and now he had finally decided to meet the anomaly. By watching her from a distance.

Nice.

Fuzz and Spike were some of the larger, more beastlike skelebros. Hailing from Feraltale, they possessed powerful instincts and couldn't speak comprehensible sounds, but they understood enough to get by alright... training being one such thing. The regular training that the others did was something Spike rather liked to join in on occasionally, while Fuzz watched from the sidelines to make sure nothing happening to his bro, and this was no exception. With a few new people to the mansion, seemingly humans on first sight but possessing odd, _other_ kinds of scents, they were understandably quite curious.

As the skeletons all settled down at the side of the training field, their attention turned towards the tree that Seriff was climbing, and the girl currently stuck on the roof. Orion was the first to speak.

"...how do you think she managed that?"

"Mmmmmmagic~" A chorus of amused huffs and quiet groans sounded at Geno's reply, and the skeletons returned their gazes up to the rooftop.

Rustling could be heard as Seriff climbed quickly and skillfully up the tree and hopped up onto a climbable part of the roof. From there he casually plopped himself next to her. "Are you good now? If not I'll give you a few moments to settle yourself."

“I am ready Mister Seriff, shall we get down and continue training?” The Void Woman nodded in reply as she shook off her vertigo, carefully standing up and heading to the edge of the rooftop to look around curiously. Her head tilted to the side upon seeing three new arrivals, two of them much bigger and more beastly looking than the others. Of course, this is Omorose we’re talking about, and she merely smiled brightly in their direction and waved with excitement apparent in her movements.

And of course, her movement caused her precarious position to grow even more precarious…

Well, sent her tumbling off the roof specifically.

“Eeeeep!” Luckily, her instincts came to her rescue by teleporting her from the dangerous height that she was at before to the side of the panicked Blueberry and Papyrus, floating a little bit above the ground before she fell the much safer last few inches to it. “Oof!”

Seriff went to grab Omorose as she fell, his eyes widening for a split second before they returned back to normal the moment her magic dropped her. He sighed, shaking his head before shoving his hand into his pocket.

"Welp, guess it's my turn to get down." He hummed, looking down at the ground way below him. He stretched lightly, before shoving his hand into his pocket. "Maximum Effort~" Much to the horror of others, he stuck a foot out like one would when about to walk, and fell....

He landed perfectly.

What.

Throwing his hands up in exasperation before bringing them down to rest on his hips, Blueberry narrowed his sockets at Seriff's perfectly unharmed form. "...SHOULD WE EVEN QUESTION WEIRD THINGS INVOLVING SERIFF ANYMORE?"

Beside him, Papyrus shrugged and held out a gloved hand to assist Omorose up to a standing position. "MAYBE, MAYBE NOT, BUT WE CANNOT ALLOW OURSELVES TO BE DISTRACTED FROM THIS TRAINING SESSION! MISS OMOROSE, ARE YOU FIT TO CONTINUE TO THE NEXT STEP?"

Yes.

Don't question the things Seriff does that seem odd.

_Purrfect..._

Using the taller skeleton’s assistance, Omorose nodded as she stood up, meticulously picking off any blades of grass still clinging to her form.

“Yes, Mister Papyrus. What is it that we shall be doing next?” She asked politely as she moved to comb through her extremely long hair with her fingers to rid herself of any stray leaves or plants.

"SHIELDING! YOUR DODGING ABILITY IS HIGHLY COMMENDABLE, BUT IF YOU FIND YOURSELF UNABLE TO MOVE OUT OF THE WAY, YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO BLOCK INCOMING BLOWS!" The tall skeleton walked a short distance away, summoning a bone that was about the size of his forearm.

Beside Omorose, Blueberry moved to demonstrate a defensive stance, his booted feet planted firmly upon the ground and his arms loosely held by his sides. "STANDING LIKE THIS, WITH A DISTANCE BETWEEN YOUR FEET THAT IS EQUIVALENT TO THE DISTANCE FROM SHOULDER TO SHOULDER, GIVES YOUR BODY A BETTER CONTROL OVER YOUR BALANCE. THIS IS BEST FOR BEGINNERS AND DEFENSIVE FIGHTERS, AS IT ALLOWS THEM TO STAY STANDING WHEN THE HEAVIER HITS START COMING."

Seriff, after dropping down from the top of the roof, casually sauntered back inside to grab a cup of coffee. Nothing interesting would happen while he was gone.... maybe. Eh it would only take a minute.

Omorose stared at Blueberry before shifting herself to imitate his stance, her feet braced against the ground and shoulders squared as she nodded in understanding.

"OKAY, KEEP IN TOUCH WITH YOUR MAGIC WHILE ANTICIPATING AN ATTACK. YOUR INSTINCTS OF SELF-PRESERVATION SHOULD SUMMON THE MOST NATURAL FORM OF A DEFENSE- THIS USUALLY TAKES THE FORM OF MAGIC ENERGY CONDENSED INTO A BASIC BARRIER OR SHIELD."

With that, Blueberry nodded to Papyrus, and the attack in his hand was thrown. As it approached, the shorter skeleton waited for several moments before releasing a surge of defensive energy- a Gaster Blaster appeared before him, tilted somewhat downwards as it took the bone between its horns. When the bone shattered, dissipating into dust and nothingness, the Blaster was revealed to be perfectly unmarked. Its owner explained this shortly after.

"DUE TO MY BATTLE EXPERIENCE, SKELETAL FORM, AND HIGH DEFENSE, THE NATURAL FORM OF MY SHIELD HAS A STRONGER AND MORE PHYSICAL SORT OF EFFECTIVENESS. THIS IS CALLED A GASTER BLASTER. I'M NOT ENTIRELY CERTAIN AS TO WHY IT'S CALLED THIS, OTHER THAN ANNOYING ALLITERATION ABOUT GASTER BLASTER MASTER CASTER DISASTERS, BUT ANYWAYS, THIS IS WHAT FORM MY DEFENSE TAKES."

Raising a hand and pushing it forward, the Blaster was raised to its horizontal position, and its jaws opened. "MY MAGICAL SIGNATURE IS INCLINED TOWARDS BOUNCING BACK AND TURNING THE TABLES QUICKLY, SHIFTING BETWEEN ACTION AND INACTION QUITE SWIFTLY. THEREFORE, MY FINAL CONSTRUCT OF DEFENSE REFLECTS THIS, BY TAKING THIS POWERFUL FORM. YOUR FIRST DEFENSE SHOULD BE SOMETHING SIMPLER, BUT IT MAY EVENTUALLY EVOLVE INTO SOMETHING MORE COMPLEX, LIKE MINE!"

Omorose double-taked a bit at the sudden show of strength, eyes wide and awed-filled as she stared up at the Gaster Blaster. The skull was large compared to her and huge in comparison to Blueberry. Her eyes glanced at him at his explanation before she calmly took a few steps forward, watching as the sentient weapon glanced over in her direction. A growly chirrup sort of sound escaped the creature as those around looked at the creature in confusion, besides those from Feraltale. Those two merely looked on in surprise and slight amusement as Omorose tilted her head to the side and released a much lighter and higher-pitched sound that was nowhere close to an actual word.

The Blaster’s response was delighted in sound, the keen high for its pitch and cheerful, and it faced her completely before moving to approach.

This made Blueberry panic.

“HEY, NO! NO NO NO NO!” Blueberry hopped between the two, staring down his weapon sternly. “YOU’RE BIGGER THAN HER, YOU MIGHT HURT HER-“

The weapon released a disgruntled sort of sound before nudging the little skeleton (who squeaked with indignation) aside and coming to a stop a mere foot in front of the Void Woman. It huffed once at her, causing her hair to whip behind her from the force of air, and she smiled before huffing once herself back at it.

Geno only had one sentence at this.

“What. The utter. Fuck.”

Fuzz snorted quietly beside the bewildered Geno, amusement evident on his skeletal face. It was fairly obvious that the humanoid girl creature could understand the blaster beast, even to him- perhaps the injured skeleton was simply in denial of that possibility.

"i uh... think she can understand it. our blasters are sorta sentient, right? like cats or dogs. makes sense they'd have a language of their own." Fortunately, Syrup was under no such delusion, and in the lawn chair beside him, Orion added on to this theory.

"that's a possibility. have we ever really tried to understand them before? i mean, we did test their intelligence levels at some point, but did we ever try to understand those little clicks and chirps they make?"

The lanky FellSwap Papyrus shrugged, and took a drag of his cigarette, before concluding this train of thought with a single, final sentence. "the more important question is, _how_ can she understand it?"

The now miffed little Blueberry got back to his feet before once again wedging himself between the weapon and the Woman-Child. “THIS IS NO TIME FOR CONVERSATION, WE ARE TRAINING! FOCUS, ROSE!” She squeaks slightly as he points at her sternly, before nodding in slight shame as he dismissed his weapon, giving a soft click in goodbye before she was turned to face a both impatient and amused Papyrus.

“ARE YOU READY TO ATTEMPT BLOCKING NOW, ROSE?” She nodded sheepishly, shifting into the stance that she was shown earlier. “NOW, IN ORDER FOR THIS TO WORK, YOU MUST NOT MOVE. DO _NOT_ DODGE, NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOUR BODY SCREAMS AT YOU TO. YOUR INSTINCTS SHOULD MAKE IT HAPPEN NATURALLY UNTIL YOU CAN CONJURE IT WITH CONSCIOUS INTENT.” He conjured a bone about as big as the last, poised and ready as Blueberry moved out of range.  “ARE YOU READY?”

“Yes-“

“HERE WE GO!”

It all happened so very, very fast.

One moment the bone was heading at breakneck towards the woman, a sharp squeal of shock ringing out with a sound accompanying it much like the ringing of something reflecting off glass, and in the next moment, the bone suddenly flew off course, causing the need for those in the way to dodge as it shot straight towards the house.

The others watched as, almost in slow motion, the door to inside opened just as the bone headed towards it at rocket speed. To their horror, a sickening sound of bone crunching through bone echoed throughout the mansion.

Seriff blinked, staring down at the bone impaling through his sternum at an angle, the point appearing between the back of his ribs.

"Oh look..." He mused, putting his coffee down to poke the bone, "I've been impaled."

A soft snickering was heard from behind Seriff, and after a couple moments, a certain dragoness walked around to see the front of her friend's injury. "Let it go... Let it go... Can't hold it back anymooooore~"

With a choked gasp, Geno promptly smacked the back of Meraki's head, his hand speaking for him while his voice refused to work. The song was cut off, and the fire-haired woman pouted, turning to face him as he finally found his words.

"Meraki, he's fucking _dying_! Why would you... Do you not care at all?"

Casting a glance around, the dragoness noted the expressions of shock and horror upon the various skeletons present, all pointed towards Seriff and the bone in his chest. He was a 1 HP skeleton, so it did make sense for them to think that he'd be dying but they couldn't see what she could.

She snorted and was promptly given a strongly chastising glare. In response to that, the woman rolled her eyes and gestured towards the impaled Aussie. "Look, guys, he's fine. The kid has taken a few hits from me in full dragon form, and he's been perfectly safe for the past who knows how long. I highly doubt that he'd be killed by a single shot of friendly fire."

"...I know you're older than me by a lot Meraki, but it's still really weird to hear ya call me an ankle biter." Seriff frowned, before poking the bone. Finally, he grabbed hold of it and yanked it out, ignoring the spurt of determination that followed. "Damn. This was my only tunic..."

The dragoness wiggled her eyebrows with a pleased expression, slinging an arm over the impaled skeleton's shoulders. Her phone was held within that hand, aimed around to capture the now absolutely horrified expressions of all the skeletons nearby, before being turned to face Seriff and herself. "And now, I get to introduce you to what will be your new favorite shirt style... Plaid."

"...Why plaid?"

Before Meraki could answer, Omorose released a horrified and extremely high-pitched yet quiet little scream as she noticed the bone practically spear his chest; the sound reaching an even higher octave that only dogs could hear when he pulled it out and the determination began leaking from his chest. Papyrus and Blueberry both gained extremely concerned expressions, and moved to attempt to calm her down but she was already gone. Having teleported to the skeleton’s side, she wrapped her arms tightly around him before beginning to apologize profusely, nearly in tears at this point.

” _I’msorryi’msorryi’msorryi’msorryi’msorryi’msorryi’msorryi’msorryi’msorryi’msorryyyyyyyyy-!!!!!_ ”

Seriff stumbled back but managed to catch himself and Omorose from falling and side. "Sheila, I'm fine. It's not the first time I've been impaled. You didn't do it purposely."

Meraki took this moment to stand back for a better view, her phone capturing every second of this fabulous scene. It was a wonder she hadn't run out of memory space yet, with all the videos and pictures she took each day.

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU’VE BEEN IMPALED BEFORE-!?”

“ _SorrysorrysorryI’m sorry-_ Oh!!” Pulling back to wipe away her growing tears as they were both hurting her eyes and obstructing her sight, she looked down at the wound (her shirt was now stained by the Determination) and sniffled softly as she surveyed it close.  “I-It… I-It’s….. T-The wound is… healing…?”

Seriff looked down, letting out a small hum, "Well... so it is." He then shrugged, throwing his two arms up- Wait, wat.

"aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

“aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-!!!” Due to her panic and ignorance of his own screaming, she began screaming herself, backpedaling with a horrifically confused face.

"WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK OF DAMN WHORES IS THIS SHIT!?" ~~-Seriff, 2k17~~

Meraki raised her eyebrows high in disbelief, staring between Seriff's new right arm and Omorose, acquiring a greater level of respect for the innocent Immortal. And then, of course, she adjusted her camera angle to get the best record of the unexpected event as it unfolded.

...that scream from the Aussie skeleton was _totally_ going into her compilation of his reactions.

"WHAT THE SHIT." He gestured wildly, his usual gestures getting wilder than usual as he practically pointed at his once missing arm, "WHAT THE FUCK."

Skeletons that had watched the very miracle happen right before their eye... sockets were utterly slack-jawed and shocked stiff. The more emotional skeletons were beginning to freak out as well, and all the noise resounding from the field brought other skeletons that were inside running to see what the hell happened.

The Aussie child didn’t scream often, if ever, so there was ultimately confusion and extreme concern to why he was screaming.

……It soon became apparent to those deeming it necessary to go outside.

“WHAT THE EVER LOVING FUCK-“

“how in the nine layers of hell-!?”

“holy shit he has both fucking arms-!!”

Attracted by the screaming and having witnessed the results of a certifiable miracle, Giant and the reclusive, previously-unintroduced Science Sans shared a glance and made their move. Giant wrapped an arm around Seriff's waist, and Sci took a hold of his legs; together, the two lifted up the Sans that was no longer sans an arm, and carried him into the mansion.

"To the lab!" Sci yelled, his feet not actually touching the floor due to Giant's massive height advantage as they carried Seriff, and the two biggest nerds of the mansion (literal and metaphorical) vanished into the depths of the basement labs.

............

"Pfffffffuahahahaha!" Lowering her phone slightly, the dragoness practically fell over laughing, before leaning heavily upon Omorose. "Beautiful, Beautiful, did you _seeeeee_ that! Ahahaha!"

The Void Woman looked entirely frazzled and disheartened after that entire debacle, holding up a tickled pink Meraki with an extremely tired expression as others regarded her with awe, worry, and suspicion. “This entire day has been indubitably overwhelming…..”

“…..I THINK THAT’S ENOUGH FOR OUR FIRST TRAINING SESSION…” Blueberry sighed deeply, strangely drained himself from how this day had gone.

“I AGREE…”

Welp.


	9. Montage! At The Mansion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Opti: This was fun as hell to write.  
> Ulti: »w» recreational drug use seems to be a recurring thing in my stories. Also Shadow says hi lol

Seriff drank his coffee, seemingly chill about the whole situation. Syrup was right next to him, looking up at said situation.

"so.... how long have they been like this?"

"3 hours."

"huh..."

Apparently, it was currently all the rage to be seated upon the highest ceiling in the entire mansion, refusing to come down for more training. Blueberry and Papyrus were trying their best to coax the reluctant Omorose down, armed with strong assurances and the combined power of their silver tongues, but she was... very, _very_ reluctant.

Blueberry was up to the pitching mound first. "MISS ROSE, PLEASE! THE ODDS OF SUCH A MISHAP OCCURRING AGAIN TODAY ARE VERY SLIM, ESPECIALLY WITH THE PRECAUTIONS WE HAVE PLANNED!"

As the Swap Sans pitched his bit, Papyrus stepped up to the plate, sending the metaphorical ball towards Omorose with a hopeful sort of accuracy. "AFTER ASKING GIANT FOR HELP, WE HAVE OBTAINED A TEMPORARY BARRIER OF A SORT! IT WILL CONTAIN ALL MAGIC WITHIN ITSELF, AND WE CAN SET IT UP AROUND THE OUTSIDE TRAINING FIELD, AND NOBODY WATCHING WILL BE HIT BY ANY ERRANT MAGIC! THEY'LL BE PERFECTLY SAFE!"

The Void Woman frowned as she stared down at the both of them, her expression troubled and saddened.

“….I refuse.”

The two skeletons metaphorically collapsed, disheartened by her blatant noncompliance.

Red had strolled out of the kitchen with his extremely strong coffee, pretty pissed that there was this much noise happening this early in the morning and the fact that it was involving the anomaly wasn’t helping his mood. He turned his grumpy sockets towards Omorose, before growling under his breath.

“oi, get down here so they can fuckin’ shut up already.”

“…….” She shook her head.

“excuse me? what did I fuckin’ say? get down.”

“…No.”

“now you listen ‘ere ya lil’ shi-“

“RED! LANGUAGE!”

“grrr…”

"J'aime quand les gens disent 'langue' quand vous maudissez. Il donne un moment opportun pour être sarcastique."

Syrup gave Seriff a strange look, "since when could you speak french?"

"Since I was... 10? I think? Found a few books in the library and got curious." Seriff shrugged, "Already knew Russian and Spanish so I thought, Hell, why not?"

"makes sense." With a shrug, the lanky FellSwap Papyrus focused upon the scene before him once more, an expression of amusement upon his skull as Red grew slowly angrier and angrier.

"uuuugh, it's too fuckin' early for this shit..." The short skeleton took a large sip of his coffee, his sockets narrowing as he stared up at the anomaly. "look, kid, either you get down here, or i _make_ you."

“I bet if Meraki was watching right now, she’d be going’ all… ‘Beautiful said No for the first time~! I’m so proud!’” G, who had finally walked in to see what all the fuss is about, watched Omorose once again shake her head, in exasperation and amusement.

“a’ight, but ya brought this on ya’self” Red lifted a hand, which was flaring strongly with his red magic, and when those present saw a responding red magic surround Omorose, he made a sharp motion downwards.

Nothing happened.

“…..w-wha?” He did it again. Nothing happened. Once more….

Jack-diddly-shit happened. She was not budging from her spot at all.

“I will not allow you to bring me down Mister Red.”

Now… Red was pissed.

“get down here ya lil’ brat!!”

“No!”

Several bone attacks were suddenly present and aimed for the Void-woman, and the Fell Sans drained the rest of his coffee in one go before heavily setting the mug down on a nearby end table. "well then, if you won't train outside, i'll just fuckin' train you right-"

"RED, RELEASE YOUR ATTACKS THIS INSTANT. I WILL NOT HAVE YOU FIRING HOLES THROUGH THE CEILING AGAIN." From a nearby doorway came Edge, sporting an expression of utter neutrality. "IF THE GIRL DOESN'T WANT TO TRAIN, THEN SHE'S AN IDIOT, BUT YOU WILL NOT FORCE HER TO DO SO."

Wow. Edge was being an understanding one today. Turning, to face Omorose, the tall skeleton placed his hands on his hips in an assertive manner. "VOID WOMAN, IF YOU DON'T WANT TO TRAIN TODAY, YOU CAN COME DOWN FROM THERE AND STAY WITH ME FOR A WHILE."

“…….” Omorose’s eyes narrowed slightly, looking between him and his ultimately done brother, and after a minute or two of staying still, crawled over to where she would be closer to Edge and dropped down.

Perfect.

He quickly snatched her up, his arms like steel girders around her as she made a sharp squeal, and began to kick as she felt his intent.

“Betrayal!!”

“I SAID WHAT THE OTHERS COULD DO, BUT I NEVER OFFERED WHAT I WOULD BE DOING.”

With that, the tall and edgy skeleton carried Omorose out to the training field, a smug and satisfied smirk upon his skull as he did so. The magic-based barrier around the field activated as they entered, thus sealing the Void-woman's fate for the next so many hours.

Honestly, brute force wasn't the _only_ way to make someone do something.

* * *

As the training session between Edge and Omorose continued into the day, skeletons had gradually crawled out of the woodwork to watch again. Some were in the same places they were before, relaxing in the lawn chairs outside, and others observed through various windows, still inside the mansion. Those watching directly from the lawnchair-sidelines were Sans, Lust, Razz, G, and Seriff, while those watching from a safer distance were Sci, Red, Geno, and Chara. Quite a few comments had been exchanged between the various spectators amidst their observations.

At one point they had realized that Edge wasn't supposed to be directly training the girl just yet- mainly when the heaviest barrage of sharpened bones seen thus far had been fired at her- but they couldn't exactly risk taking down the training barrier without facing the risk of her escaping... So hey, it looked like the Fell Papyrus was getting what he wanted a bit earlier, no matter how salty Papyrus or Blueberry looked about it.

Amidst a lull in the mock-battle, Meraki kicked the back door open from the inside, a wide smirk upon her face as she simultaneously startled a few spectators and revealed whose clothes she had borrowed today.

...Lust began to snicker, glancing over at Sans with a highly amused expression at the poor Classic alternate's misfortune.

"Arvo, Meraki." Seriff waved his right hand (that still felt very weird to have, by the way) and drank from his coffee. "Pretty _Classy_ look you got there."

“M-Madame— Hyeeek!” Omorose just barely dodged getting hit in the sternum with a blunt edge of a bone, an impatient and stern Edge the culprit of the bone club he had in his hands.

“DO _NOT_ LOSE FOCUS! DO _NOT_ TURN YOUR BACK ON YOUR ENEMY!” The poor woman had to keep dodging as he continued to go after her, making it extremely difficult for her to put space in between them.  “DISTRACTIONS COULD MEAN YOUR DEATH!”

“Waaaaaaahhhh-!”

Regarding the training session with a speculative eye, the dragoness deemed the threat level that Edge posed towards her charge for a few moments, and then turned towards Seriff. "Thanks, I was feeling kinda _Original_ today."

Meraki was wearing Sans' hoodie (the one with the uber-fluffy fur-lined hood) over her own black tank top and his black and white basketball shorts instead of her leggings. The shorts appeared more like short-shorts on her, given the height difference between the skeleton and herself, yet also appeared to fit her perfectly... nobody could say for certain how that worked. All of this combined with her own knee-high black boots made for an interesting overall look.

Sans, of course, had a few words to say about this.

"...how did you get into my room?"

His door had been locked, he was certain of it. Nobody else had the key, as was the case with all the other skeletons' bedroom doors in the mansion, and his windows were too high up to climb. As such, is main question was how in the world had the dragoness gotten into his room?

"Mmmmmmmmagic~!"

Oh hell no.

"Or a lockpicking kit." Seriff snorted, "They're pretty useful for picking anything if ya know how to use em."

...

Not...

Not that he had one or anything.

That was just ridiculous.

Meraki cast her gaze to the side, her shifty eyes being very shifty. "I dunno what you're talking about."

........

.....................

.............

Did the skeletons even _need_ to call bullshit on that?

"M'kay, keep telling yourself that." Seriff turned, "She looks like she needs help on learning how to dodge..."

Turning to face the training session again, the dragoness took an objective look, and shook her head. "No, at her current level, she's actually doing quite well. It's her opponent that's causing the imbalance in skill."

Behind them, from inside the mansion, Red could distantly be heard shouting, "is everyone just gonna ignore the fact that she made an alternate universe pun? what the fuck! she shouldn't know this shit!"

He was, ultimately, shut down by Chara. "Be silent, I can't hear them over your annoying screeching." At this comment, Geno nodded in agreement beside the two, as Sci continued scribbling away in his notepad.

Not noticing this, or simply ignoring it, Meraki continued her assessment. "Edge here is a seasoned warrior by the looks of things. Powerful, certainly, and highly precise in his movements. His control over himself is quite remarkable... reminds me somewhat of a young soldier I met in Europe several centuries ago. They have that same sort of commanding fire."

"He's a bloody ace trainer too." Seriff nodded, "I think its only because rosy isn't quite at his experience yet that's causing a sort of tip in the scales."

In a movement to get away from the ultimately intimidating Edge, Omorose tripped on a protruding rock and tumbled to the ground, releasing a grunt of pain as she did. Edge did not relent.

“YOU MUST BE MORE AWARE OF YOUR SURROUNDINGS AS WELL AS YOUR OPPONENT. AN ENEMY WILL NOT ALWAYS FIGHT FAIR, WOMAN.” He approached, bones poised to attack in hand as she shifted onto her back. “MERCY IS NOT ALWAYS AN OPTION, SOMETIMES YOU MUST BEAT YOUR ENEMY INTO SUBMISSION. NOW… DEFEND YOURSELF!”

Her eyes widened as the bones floating in the air suddenly shot towards her and with a gasp, she brought her arms up as if to protect her face. Something strange happened as she did so.

A reflective sort of silvery-glass like surface appeared in front of herself, and with several loud ringing sounds reminiscent of the one that was exuded before the accident of yesterday, the crimson laced bones reflected themselves off the surface and sped off in many random directions.

The bones landed firmly in the barrier around the training field, and once Edge was done dodging, he smirked. "LOOK AT THE MAGIC FIELD THERE- THE LAZYASS ONLOOKERS WON'T BE HARMED BY YOUR ERRANT SHOTS. NOW, WILL YOU ACCEPT BEING TRAINED WILLINGLY, OR DO I NEED TO GIVE YOU A FEW MORE DEMONSTRATIONS TO ENSURE YOU WON'T FLEE AT THE FIRST OPPORTUNITY YOU GET?"

...clever Edge was clever.

As said lazyass skeletons on the sidelines looked over the attacks frozen in place by the temporary barrier, G making a few notes for his bro to improve it, Lust gazed at Edge with a sultry look in his eyelights.

"damn he's sexy when he gets like this," he muttered, almost as though he didn't intend for anyone else to hear it. But they heard it alright. They heard it, and Raspberry had to comment on it.

"LUST, HONESTLY, CAN YOU FUCKING CONTROL YOURSELF FOR EVEN A MOMENT? I UNDERSTAND THAT MY ALTERNATE IS VISUALLY APPEALING, BUT YOU MAY HAVE A PROBLEM."

"well, controlling myself can be a bit _hard_ sometimes, especially when faced with a nice ass like that."

"OH MY GOD, YOU USE THAT PUN EVERY DAY! AT THIS POINT IT'S NOT EVEN ANNOYING THAT YOU MAKE PUNS, IT'S THAT YOU ALWAYS FUCKING RE-USE YOUR PUNS!"

"what, is it too _hard_ for you to handle?"

Razz summoned a sharp-ended bone, and aimed it at Lust.

"is that your way of asking to _bone_ me? generally speaking, it's better to acquire consent before violently _beating_ someone into the bedroom-"

"SHUT UP, I SWEAR I OUGHT TO FUCKING GAG YOU-"

"well, i have a wide selection of gags for you to use, such as ring gags, ball gags, inflatable gags-"

"I SWEAR TO TORIEL IF YOU DON'T FUCKING SHUT UP THIS INSTANT, I WILL GUT YOU HERE AND NOW."

As Lust's eyelights glowed slightly brighter, Raspberry realized his mistake and drew his summoned bone spear up to throw.

"but we're skeletons, we don't have any guuuuuUUUUUTS-" The seductive skeleton screeched as he was chased off into the mansion, cackling with anticipation at the pure rage that the FellSwap Sans was exuding.

...nearby, Seriff let out a single chuckle and returned to watching the occupants of the training field.

"In the words of Lust, 'kinky.'"

Those upon the training field watched the exchange, one in confused innocence, the other in both irritated exasperation and amusement before Omorose brought herself to her feet.

“V-Very well Captain Edge… I apologize for my reluctance…” The woman’s face fell as she stood, and Edge, though ultimately done with her pussy-footing, decided that keeping her hopes up was a better way of her bringing her all in training.

“WELL, AT LEAST IT IS APPARENT THAT YOU AREN’T A TOTAL WASTE OF TIME.” He huffed haughtily but reached out to give her a quick and unsure pat on the head. “NOW, BLOCKING PHYSICAL ATTACKS ARE NEXT.” He turned away before he could spot her small smile.

She liked being pet.

“Yes, Captain!”

* * *

As the sunset light cast through the trees around the mansion, the training session was approaching an end. Most of the spectators had gone inside to perform necessary tasks and the like, some being replaced by others, so now it was only Meraki, Seriff, Honey, and Fresh watching Omorose be trained.

Meraki, noticing the purples and blues of the dusky sky, hummed quietly in thought. "I do believe this calls for a break. Blue, Paps, mind slowing your roll for a few minutes?"

Sometime after Edge had convinced the void woman to accept the training again, the two aforementioned skeletons had reclaimed their rightful roles as her teachers, although she was advancing rather quickly- it seemed as though her mind was a sponge for information. This was likely why the two nodded in agreement, and let up on the woman upon Meraki's request.

"YES, MISS MERAKI?" Blueberry was the one to speak, as Papyrus went to turn off the temporary barrier for the day.

The dragoness smiled, gesturing towards the horizon. "This sunset is gorgeous, don't you agree? It'll be the first time Omorose sees the stars revealed and her second viewing of a sunset."

"First time with seein' the night sky and all that?" Seriff raised a brow, "She's been 'ere how long, surrounded by science dorks and she hasn't even seen the stars yet?"

Meraki shrugged, ignoring Blueberry's gasp at this information. "I'm a pretty observant dragon, and Omorose is a part of my hoard, so I'm watching her a lot. Nobody's really come into our room at night unless you count listening at the door and mouth-breathing as coming in."

“That is indeed a fair observation. Though I still fail to see why several people have come to our living quarters only to not come in. If they come to visit, they must wish to communicate with us, yes?” Omorose asked as she tapped her lip thoughtfully, unaware of the many observers from the windows slowly backing away to hide from the scolding looks that Blue and Papyrus were pointing them.

“At any rate… I remember from my ‘book’ that stars are essentially extremely heated spheres of gas that burn so intensely they produce light… Would it not be dangerous to observe and go near such?”

Seriff barked out a laugh, before patting her head, "No, no Sheila. _Up close,_ stars are hot balls a' gas. but we're not close enough 'ere on Earth to be hurt by them. In fact, we're very very far away from them."

"What Seriff said. Stargazing is pretty safe here, excluding the sun itself. Besides the sun, the next closest star is... what is it... 11 lightyears away? Somewhere around there." The dragoness beside the two shrugged, heading over to the lawn chair section and closing the large umbrella over three of them.

"C'mon over here, lay down 'n watch the sky for a bit. The air smells like nice weather for the next few days or so." Ah, heightened senses, both a blessing and a curse. A curse due to the stale sort of stench upon the stolen clothes she still wore, the kind that came from clothes being left in a dresser for _way_ too long, but Meraki was too lazy to take them off.

"Pretty sure if Orion was here he could tell us the exact distance." The tall Aussie snickered.

Omorose followed after Meraki like a little duckling as Blue and Papyrus hustled back inside to persuade (read: good-naturedly bully) some of the others into a night of stargazing with the anomaly as the focus. It’d be fun to see her with the expression they first had when they left the Underground!

Well, other than Orion and Pluto, that is…

The Void Woman quietly sat in a chair as well and looked around as others began to pile outside.

As the various skeletons who hadn't been otherwise occupied began to settle, the sun set fully beneath the horizon, and the sky began to darken. One or two of the Sanses went back inside to grab telescopes, returning with a few snacks for everyone to share and setting up their telescopes with the utmost care.

Meraki gestured towards the nearest such device being set up, an amused expression on her face. "These complete nerds have brought out a decent weapon in any astronomer's arsenal... the telescope. Basically, if you wanna look closer at one star or a few instead of the entire sky, ya use one of those things."

“Oh…” Omorose looked over at the said machinery with a quizzical look, before her attention was grabbed by Blueberry and Papyrus bounding over with a plate of cookies.

“WOULD YOU LIKE A COOKIE, ROSE? IT’S REALLY GOOD!”

“Is this another form of the sustenance known as ‘food’?”

“WELL, SORT OF! IT’S NOT HEALTHY TO EAT IN EXCESS, BUT IT IS STILL DELIGHTFUL TO TASTE.”

“Very well."

Half the plate was gone before the girl could even grab one... and Seriff's hidden pockets in his hoodie were quite full.... and crumbly.

Meraki grinned, slowly easing the large plate out of the innocent skele's gloved hands and setting it between Omorose and herself. "Yeah, you can just leave this plate here... I'll bake ya a batch or two to make up for it sometime later on..."

Nearby, having successfully escaped the wrath of Raspberry, Lust almost tripped, and whipped his skull around to face the group with the cookies. "wait, wait, you can make cookies?"

"Yuuuu-p." Meraki smirked, popping the 'p' sound at the end.

" _good_ cookies?"

"Yuuuuuuuuuuu-p."

"i'm a slut for cookies. bake me cookies for the rest of my life, and i will be your slave, like, forever." When the dragoness sent him a thumbs up, the purple-vested skeleton sauntered off happily, cookies for life successfully acquired.

"I hope he knows that he basically sold his soul to fucking Satan."

The Void Woman grabbed a single one and brought it to face, lightly sniffing the circular chocolate chip embedded thing and enjoying the smell of it. She looked up at Papyrus and Blue for confirmation and at their nod, opened her mouth and bit into it with a ‘nom’.

….. ** _so cute_**.

Her eyes began to twinkle again as she released a high-pitched sound of enjoyment, actually making Lust and Flush blush as she wiggled in her seat with delight.

Seriff cringed a little at the sound but his eyes lit up in realization, "Oh wait.. I still have those sweets I bought from the mall."

With a grin, Meraki reached over and lightly patted Omorose's head. "Pat, pat, pat." The void immortal really was too adorable to handle.

...the reminder of that candy's existence filled Meraki with a momentary _greed_... buuuuut she used her laziness to stay perfectly chill, and munched on the cookies she already held between herself and Omorose.

"Not sure those sweets compare with the taste of cookies, but hey, I'll take my victory and you take yours." A cookie was casually tossed into her mouth whole, and the watching Lust and Flush found their blushes deepening in their purple and pink colors.

Seriff remained quiet, deciding it was best not to mention that he had almost bought out the entire fucking store...

"Well if she likes cookies... I bet she would love-" He disappeared for a slit second, but was back again in as much time as he disappeared. "-Cookies N' Cream Popsicles."

Easily chomping down on the rest of her cookie, the woman blinked as she turned to face the popsicle being held out to her. “It is… a cookie? But it does not look at all similar to these circular objects.”

“NO NO, IT IS A POPSICLE FLAVORED LIKE A CERTAIN TYPE OF COOKIE!” Blueberry explained, smiling as he reached out to unwrap it for her. “DON’T BITE INTO THIS, YOU MIGHT HURT YOUR TEETH… JUST LICK IT!”

"Ya, like this." Seriff leaned back and opening his mouth. Not long after, a _long_ blue and green tongue emerged from his mouth and licked the cold treat.

As others gaped and blushed at Seriff’s appendage, Omorose turned to her own treat, and stuck out her tongue before sloppily licking at her own popsicle. She lurched back a little, surprised by the coldness before the taste of it kicked in. Her eyes widened before she did it again, much more prepared for it this time.

“It’s delicious~!”

Meraki snickered quietly beside the two, the gleam of amusement definitely present within her eyes. "Oh yes, it's simply _mouthwatering_."

...there was the vaguest sense that she wasn't referring to the frozen treats being devoured. Nearby, Lust obtained a nosebleed- how? magic? nobody knows- and his brother looked close to doing the same.

"Anyways, pass me one of those things. That nice cream the other day has gotten me in the mood for frozen treats that can't be beat." The plate of cookies was protected with a few hand-slaps discouraging all skeletons from going for it.

Seriff handed one to Meraki, humming softly as he licked his own _slowly_ to enjoy the taste one last time, before placing the entire thing into his mouth and swallowing it whole.

Omorose was next to shove the whole thing into her mouth, braving the utter cold to suckle on it. She had noticed that the change in temperature was making the treat melt, and she wasn’t about let the sweet-tasting thing go to waste. Many of the skeletons jolted as she did, color flaring over their faces as she made loud slurping sounds.

“u-uh… y-you enjoying’ yourself darlin’?” Syrup said from nearby, watching as she turned to her with a goofy look on her face.

“Mmm~! Mm-mmph!!”

“FOR THE LOVE OF TORIEL, PLEASE DON’T TALK WITH YOUR MOUTH FULL…” Blueberry grimaced, clasping a hand over his eyesockets.

"She said 'Yes, it's delicious.'" Seriff replied, looking over at the others while licking what was left of the treat around his mouth. At one point he even licked his cheek.

Those snickers from the dragoness? Yeah, they had ascended to second level cackling, particularly when Flush did the full nosebleed-collapse thing you see in anime.

"Be grateful these popsicles aren't colored like your magic, ya filthy sinners!" Meraki exclaimed, enjoying her treat at a slower pace.

Omorose continued being purely unaware of her sexual motions as she continued to suck on the popsicle before something even more interesting drew her attention.

There was… suddenly a buzzing light in front of her nose.

She stopped in her motions, her eye nearly growing cross-eyed as she stared at the light floating in front of her face and then turning her head as it began to fly away further into the field.

It was too late to stop what happened next.

Hopping out of her seat, she chased after it around the field with the popsicle still bobbing within her mouth, her muffled delighted squealing being the only thing heard from her as she attempted to capture the light with her hands.

"...While I find this amusing, I'm beginning to feel that someone should stop her." The dragoness took a nice bite of the frozen treat- the utter heathen- and peered between the plate of cookies in her lap and the prancing Omorose...

"Just gonna say now, there are like ten of ya out here, all of ya being closer to Beautiful. And the temperature is dropping slightly, so I'm feeling lazier than usual."

Seriff snorted, rolling his eyes, "I would get her... but I really don't feel like getting up."

“MY GOODNESS…” Papyrus groaned before getting up and hurrying after the beguiled woman. “ROSE, JUST A MOMENT!”

“Mmm~?!” She flailed a bit as she was suddenly scooped from under her arms and held up in the air. She turned surprised eyes to the large skeleton before pointing at the light gaining distance from them. “Mm!! Mm-mmn!!”

He dead-panned at her before taking the popsicle from her mouth. It was pretty much gone now at this point. “PLEASE REPEAT THAT?”

“The flying light!! Whatever could it be?! Mister Seriff said stars are very far from us, so it could not be a star, correct?”

“OHHH. THAT, ROSE, WAS A FIREFLY. ONE OF EARTH’S MANY CREATURES.”

“Fire… fly?”

"Probably called that cuz the light on its tail flickers like fire or some shiz. Humans are usually better than Asgore at naming things, but alas, they still have their low moments." Meraki spoke up from her lawn chair, and proceeded to take another bite of her frozen treat.

Nearby, at the innocent questions of the void immortal, Flush regained a perpendicular position in relation to the ground, no longer incapacitated with lustful thoughts. A stunning recovery! But alas, the same could not be said for his brother.

"Well, they're also called lightning bugs too. It all just depends on where you go and who you ask." Seriff hummed, appearing next to Papyrus.

"NOW YOU FEEL LIKE MOVING?"

"Yup!"

Omorose couldn’t help but feel the tiniest bit amused by Seriff. Why, she wasn’t certain. A soft giggle left her before her eyes caught sight of even more of these ‘lightning bugs’ buzzing aimlessly past her face. “There’s more…?”

“OH YES, THERE IS MUCH MORE THAN JUST ONE DEAR ROSE!”

“They… are all the same color.”

“THAT’S NATURAL TOO. IT PROBABLY WOULD NOT HELP THEIR SURVIVAL IF THEY WERE ALLOWED MORE THAN ONE CHOICE OF LIGHT COLOR.”

"But, see how they the lights they give blink?" Seriff pointed out, gesturing to one Firefly, "They're sending messages. Each pattern is a different communication. Some mean to show their gender, and so the other would be more attracted to it. Different species of fireflies have different patterns to reveal genders and such."

His mind still well-occupied by certain frozen treat induced fantasies, Lust approached the tall Void woman and wrapped an arm around her waist, using his free arm to gesture towards the fireflies.

"the ones you're seeing flying around are males, on the lookout for some nice females to mate with. ya see, their lights serve as their primary attractive quality, and certain patterns of flashes are attractive to certain types of females. the females are usually down in the grass, making the males prove their worth and desirability before allowing them to touch the butt."

With a daring grin, Lust's arm dipped to demonstrate this, squeezing Omorose's posterior with a decisive firmness. "like so. anyways, much like these fireflies, i am totally down to fu-"

Suddenly, the insatiable skeleton found himself yanked away from the woman, some force wrapped around his own skeletal waist. When he looked down, it seemed to be a scaly tail, the deep orangey-red scales reflecting the lights of the fireflies with surprising clarity... He couldn't resist stroking one of the scales, just to feel the smoothness of its surface and the sharpness of its edge.

Wait, none of the skeletons outside even had tails! And for those who _did_ have tails, they were typically spine-like or summoned ecto-flesh tails! Whose tail was-

"Ahem. I believe you owe somebody an apology."

 _Shit_.

Turning to face his captor, Lust grinned nervously, his kinks acting up. "u-uh... it's a bit _hard_ for me to tell... do i owe you an apology or the lovely omorose here?"

Meraki, having been unable to decide between her cookies and Omorose's virtue, chose both at once. Thus, the large plate of cookies was held in one hand, her partially-devoured frozen treat held in the other, and her tail was subsequently used to remove Lust from her charge's immediate vicinity. Apparently, the tail was always around, even when she was in human form- merely kept beneath her clothes in a manner similar to that of a friend.

After a moment of consideration, her head tilted to the side, the dragoness finally answered. "...Both. You can apologize properly to me later, but a formal, clean, _verbal_ apology will do well for Omorose now."

The slight tightening of the tail around Lust's summoned waist set off his nosebleed anew, and he turned back towards Omorose with clear difficulty. "i uh, would like to begin my three part apology by saying that you are a beautiful person that i should never touch without consent-"

The dragoness, amused, cast a glance towards the other skeletons nearby. Most of them had expressions of either amusement or surprise upon their skulls, more than one of the science-types looking at her tail in fascination, but there was the rare exception... such as Flush. Flush was now prone upon the ground again, holding up a thumbs up that his bro was too busy apologizing to see.

Seriff shook his head, "I don't know whether or not to clap, or laugh," he said to Meraki.... while the GasterBlaster he had hidden left.

~~Don't fuck with Seriff's Family.~~

"Why not both? Both is good." The dragoness winked, causing Lust to stutter as she squeezed her tail again.

Papyrus performed the loveliest of facepalms as Omorose attempted to catch-up with the quick change of events. She had twitched slightly at the unexpected feeling of Lust’s hand on her ass, before staring at him in deep confusion as she absorbed the information.

“I have a feeling he had not finished his earlier sentence; What was he-“

“NOTHING MISS ROSE, NOTHING AT ALL.”

Seriff shook his head, before popping a cookie into his mouth.

"-and in conclusion, i will try my best to avoid performing any such unwanted advances, especially while within the sight of either meraki or seriff." The lustful skeleton brought Omorose's hand up to his teeth in a pseudo-kiss, a properly chastised and yet utterly sinful glance cast towards the innocent girl.

"See to it that you don't. You're free to go... but expect me to visit you later tonight." Curling her tail back beneath her clothes, Meraki released the short skeleton, and consumed the rest of her frozen treat.

Omorose made a quick little poke at Meraki’s tail before it was pulled away, intrigued but ultimately distracted by Lust’s gesture.

She remembered the gesture from her first night here, via Fresh.

She also remembered the explanation Meraki offered afterward.

……..Well, might as well return the sentiment right?

“…I believe I say now that you are forgiven, Mister Lust. I have no quarrel with you.” With amateur and imprecise movement, Omorose lowered her head closer to Lust’s suddenly surprised face. She had meant to target the skeleton’s teeth, but instead managed to press her lips to the tip of his nose indent. She pulled back and gave him a pleasant smile before being pulled off by Papyrus to catch even more fireflies.

....................

“…..I THINK SHE BROKE HIM.” Blueberry peeked around Lust’s shoulder to see him utterly frozen and face bright with color. He waved a hand in his face, but he didn’t respond. “I MUST COMMEND HER; IT IS EXTREMELY HARD TO SHOCK LUST OF ALL PEOPLE.”

“she learns fast…” Sans snickered to himself as he kept an eye on his brother from the sidelines.

Seriff rolled his eyes at the others, before perking up lightly. "Oi, if everyone would shut up for a tic, you can see the stars are comin' out..."

As Lust temporarily became a statue, he was ignored in favor of the stars, the quiet murmurs of enjoyment and appreciation from the others filling the quiet nighttime air. From beside Omorose, Meraki tossed the wrapper and stick from the finished frozen treat into the trash, and proceeded to wrap her now-freed arm around the girl's shoulders.

"Aight, if you'll cast your gaze upwards, you'll see the lovely nighttime sky full of stars. To your right is a Papyrus, behind you is a Sans or two, and to your left is your dragoness tour guide for the moment. Keep all hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times, and feel free to ask any questions ya want~"

Being pulled into the hold of her caretaker, the Void Woman looked up at her words, her eyes going wide with the sight of glittering little dots twinkling high above her. She too became a statue, but while sharing the shock that Lust had felt, she also felt the pure humble awe at the sheer amount of stars in the sky.

“So numerous… T’would be impossible to count them all…”

"Yah. It's amazing, innit?" Seriff smiled softly, looking up at the stars. "Better view than in the Underground."

Nearby, Sans decided to finally approach, leaving his place on the sidelines to catch Omorose's attention and get a better gauge on her. He still didn't fully trust the anomaly, no matter how cute or innocent it was but for now, he'd happily remain civil with it. Her. He didn't want to ACT if there still wasn't enough reason to.

"hey kid, if ya wanna get a closer look at the stars, you can use my telescope. normally this would cost ya twenty g, but i'll give ya a one hundred percent discount tonight. rare deal, take it or leave it."

Omorose barely had the capacity to even hear Sans' request, let alone understand it. It took the gentle nudge to her shoulder by Papyrus to get her to snap out of her awe, and she gave Sans a slightly bewildered, lost, fascinated stare before slowly nodding without a single word. Papyrus grasped her hand and led her to the telescope, having to catch her from stumbling a few times due to her reluctance to take her eyes off the night sky.

Everyone else watched on with slightly indulgent looks. Was this how they looked when they first came to the surface too?

Ah, but it wasn't the same... They knew the splendor of the surface existed, even if they couldn't see it. Omorose... Omorose hadn't, until a couple of days ago.

It was like watching an infant being incredibly excited by something new for the first time..... No, it was exactly like that. Only the infant was just an extremely deprived full grown woman.

The pure awe she held probably rivaled the whole monster race during the Ascension, and her deep seated energy easily left everyone exhausted. From squealing quietly as she looked through the telescope for a long while to then running throughout the field, everyone amused themselves with her reactions while she spun around in a circle before flopping fully onto the grass.

It wasn't until almost an hour later that they realized her form wasn't getting up.

Some worriedly checked up on her, but froze and had varying emotions at the sight they saw.

She had fallen asleep.

_Awwww, her first nap~...._

Meraki had snapped many pictures of the sight before carrying the woman inside for bedtime.

* * *

After a good so many days of training, Omorose had earned a break, and the various skeletons were making good use of it. Particularly the lazy ones- they were living this break as though it were their own- and all had gathered in one of the larger living rooms for a fun night of movies and games.

Some of these games were... hehe... less than innocent, which made it even more amusing for those who understood them. One such game was a drinking game, and during which, various cups of alcohol and soda were distributed based upon whether or not the players were of drinking age.

Unsurprisingly, Omorose was given a cup of soda, carefully chosen for her by a protective Meraki.

However, Seriff _also_ got a cup of soda, and it was this that prompted the question of how old he was.

"oh yeah, he's seventeen," Sans said nearby, mixing himself a Bloody Mary with ketchup instead of tomato juice... ew.

Seriff twitched, but made no move to say anything against Sans and just casually sipped his soda, "Hey, I'll have you know the drinking age in Australia is 18."

Of course, Omorose was rather observant; It was just in her nature at this point due to the deep urge to gain as much knowledge as possible. At the moment, she was cuddling Fresh (he gave out hugs like candy, and it was _awesome_ ) when she noticed how Seriff twitched at Sans’ answer and the most fleeting look of annoyance and amusement crossed over his face before it turned casual once more.

That must have meant the information Sans offered was incorrect.

That would not do. Faux information would not help her progress; in fact it was possible to hinder her growth with it. She had to ask, even though the idea of time was just confusing to her.

“Mister Seriff, what is your current… ‘age’?”

"Hm? Oh, I'm 20. Gonna be turning 21 in a week," Seriff replied, sipping his soda again.

.......

..................

............

**_"WHAAAAAAAAAAT!?"_ **

Meraki choked on her alcohol dramatically, proceeding to wave around the half-full cup in a way that made several skeletons nearby eye it with wariness.

"Oh no, how can Seriff have ever aged in the years he's been here, why does time move forward in some places and stay still in others, how dare time age the fabulous teen skeleton before us!?"

The sarcasm was real. Nearby, Papyrus snickered, and several others gazed upon their precious cinnamon roll with expressions of concern and maybe slight fear.

"OH YES, MISS MERAKI, IT SEEMS AS THOUGH THE EXISTENCE OF TIME HAS ONCE AGAIN CONFOUNDED MY BROTHER AND ALTERNATES. WOE IS THEY, WOE IS THEY."

Omorose blinked in a blank sort of way before staring at those who were shocked by Seriff’s actual age. “The sense of time is foreign to one such as I but not to you beings, and yet the fact of your inability to remember how long Mister Seriff has existed is rather… Concerning. I am gathering that this is something to be expected of caretakers. I do hope that your ability to do other tasks is much more satisfactory seeing as you are in charge of the well-being of him and the children.”

Fresh couldn’t help but burst out into laughter. The oblivious and innocent Omorose actually went all Mom-mode on _seasoned_ caretakers. And she was _right_!

As Sans stared at Papyrus as though he'd just seen his hopes and dreams crushed before him, seated nearby, Red raised his glass with a wicked glint to his eyelights. "never have i ever forgotten seriff's actual age."

Slowly, the others turned to Red with expressions of betrayal, and practically everyone in the room took a drink. The only exceptions were Papyrus, Blueberry, Fuzz, Edge, Meraki, Omorose, and- of course- Seriff himself. What a lovely start to this game!

Seriff snorted, before lifting his drink, "Does that mean I can finally stop hiding my whiskey in various stashes around the house?"

As everyone went up in an uproar at that statement, the anomaly sat back and sipped at the last of her fizzy drink thoughtfully.

 _‘I now wonder if I have an actual age to boast of…’_ Omorose thought of with a small frown, before shaking her head and tuning back into the conversation.

“Not like ya really need it, Ser. Ya drink straight magic for star’s sakes.” G interjected, gaining the anomaly’s attention.

"It's pretty common in my universe. Sielutale Monsters need to drink pure Magic every... 15-30 minutes unless they wanna implode. But don't worry, I only need it 3 times a day. 4 if it's bad." Seriff shrugged. "As for your observation G, I'm not talking about any average whiskey from any old universe. I'm talking about Whiskey from Sielutale. Made by Grillby himself." He grinned, "Only thing that can get me the least bit drunk."

“He drinks pure magic?”

“Yeah,” Chara answered Omorose, gently patting her head. “I usually make the magic he drinks in this house since I have an abundance of it as a magic-using human.”

“How do you do such a thing?”

“Oh... I just do it, y’know,” The sole human stuck out their finger above their cup, before a bright red liquid that glowed ominously poured from their fingertip into the plastic cup, “Like that.”

Omorose’s head tilted to the side as she watched, before she glanced at her own empty cup. She placed her finger above it, before brightly glittering gold, silver, and bronze liquid (almost like liquid metal) poured into her cup. “You mean in this manner?”

“Whoaaaa, that’s some mighty rare colored magic that ya got there sweetness.” Fresh chuckled as he stared into the Void-Woman’s cup. “First I seen it, and I’ve seen a whole bunch of whack colors before.”

“NOT SURPRISING; YOU WEAR THEM.” Edge quipped.

“Those are pretty new to me too,” Chara replied, casually glancing into her cup curiously. “But that must mean those are your Soul Traits. Dunno what they mean.”

“Madame, Mister Blue.” Omorose called to them, holding out her cup for them to see. “Could you answer this conundrum?”

“…..I AM NOT AWARE OF THE ANSWER MYSELF ROSE. I APOLOGIZE."

With a conspiratorial grin, Meraki tossed an arm over Omorose's shoulders. It seemed she had the answer that the Void-woman was looking for.

"Gold is the color of Nobility, Silver is the color of Grace, and Bronze is the color of Ingenuity. Each trait has a specific type of magic accompanied with it- Gold is charm, sorta like empathy, Silver is reflection, and Bronze acts as a buffer to those around ya, like improvement. I have a Gold Soul myself."

"They're pretty rare colors, even in my universe. But as Meraki has shown, they are still around to this day... Just never seen em all together at the same time..." Seriff tilted his head.

Reaching over to grab an unused glass, the dragoness poured a bit of golden magic from her fingertip, swirling the thick substance around slightly. "Ever wanna be verbally smoother than a baby's ass? Gold magic is the way to go. G is a monster, but his magic is this color, showcasing his nobility and charm over his other traits."

“HOW CRUDE,” Razz muttered, in disbelief that the dragon-bitch in front of him had ‘charm’ and was ‘noble’.

“But effective.” G grinned as he placed a hand on top of the girls’ heads. “Us noble people gotta stick together, yeah?”

“in life or in a bed, g?” Lust waggled his brows suggestively, causing many to laugh at the taller skeleton’s offended expression.

It was kinda true though...

"I wouldn't be opposed to a noble threesome." At the shocked glances cast her way, Meraki snickered and drawled out an addition. "I mean, what, no, sex is bad guys, don't do it, you'll get pregnant and die."

Reaching over to the glass of red magic Chara had made, the dragoness suddenly chugged it, and gained a wicked glint to her cognac eyes. "That's some good shit, good shit right there if I do say so myself, good shit. But my shit is better, so Omorose, you drink my magic, and Seriff, you drink Omorose's magic. Trust me. And do it. Don't let your memes be dreams. Just do it."

"As a meme would say Meraki, you're doin' me a frighten."

“I am unaware how sexual intercourse has anything to do with this subject, but very well.” Omorose nodded as she took Meraki’s cup with hardly a thought (she trusted Meraki, which meant this was a toss up on how this was going to go down) and chugged it herself with no difficulty whatsoever. When you don’t need to breathe to survive, you’d be surprised at what you could accomplish.

“Your magic is very robust, Madame,” Omorose commented, licking the leftover gold liquid off her lips with a delighted hum. “Here Mister Seriff, your turn,” She added, handing him her cup.

Seriff looked at the cup with an uneasy look. He had Gold magic before, but not Bronze or Silver..... Omorose's magic was extremely potent, and he had no idea how it would react to him, especially a mixture of all three. If he drank too much... well... He never did tell the others what would happen if you drank too much magic.

"Fine. But I'm not chuggin' it. I'm slightly questionable sometimes, but not suicidal." He sighed. He took one sip....

.......

....................

.............

With a slowly widening grin, Meraki leaned in towards Seriffand booped his nasal bone. "Weeeeeeell? How is it, Ser? Tasty?"

……………

……………………........

………………...

“He’s not answering……”

“…if it wasn’t for the fact that our tolerance for alcoholic magic is much lower than seriff’s, i’d drink some of it myself,” Red muttered quietly.

Seriff didn't reply, instead getting up and heading towards the stairway that led to everyone's room.

"WAIT, SERIFF WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!"

Seriff turned around, "BRUH I'M GOING TO FUCKING SLEEP BECAUSE THIS SHIT IS JUST-" He waved while he looked around with dilated eyelights, his sockets wide open. "I'M SEEIN' FUCKIN NOISES, I'M FEELIN COLORS, I JUST SAW THE UNIVERSE IN LIKE A MOLECULE OF AIR BUT I THINK I LOST IT."

He looks around, his hand still kinda waving like he was trying to find words... And that air molecule. "YA BRUH I FUCKIN LOST IT." He gestured wildly towards... everywhere, "FUCKIN RED IS BLUE, BLUE IS GREEN, GREEN IS YELLOW. I DON'T EVEN FUCKING KNOW DUDE I'M FUCKIN TRIPPING. I FEEL LIKE SOMEONE JUST TOOK THE BIG FIVE DRUGS AND SOAKED THEM IN HADOUKEN."

Hearing all of this, Meraki reached for the glass of Omorose's magic, and one of the skeletons noticed this. "MISS MERAKI, I WOULDN'T-"

But she had already taken a large sip, and it was too late.

...................

"THIS IS SOME FUCKING GOOD SHIT. THIS GOOD SHIT MAKES MY GOOD SHIT LOOK LIKE BAD SHIT. IT'S GOOD SHIT, BREH."

Bringing herself to a standing position, Meraki took the glass with her as she stumbled towards Seriff, her own eyes wide. This really was some good shit if it could get a _dragon_ smashed with a single gulp.

"THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT RIGHT THERE RIGHT THERE RIGHT THERE." Seriff screeched, pointing at Meraki.

"WOOOOOOOOOOOO! GOOD SHIT!" The dragoness stumbled against the wall, wide eyes scanning the air around them. "DUDE I GET WHAT YOU'RE SAYING ABOUT THE UNIVERSE BEING IN A DUST MOTE..."

Appearing utterly insulted, Seriff gestured towards the dragoness with brow-bones furrowed in concentration, "AIR MOLECULE!"

"BUT WHAT ABOUT WATER MOLECULES!? WHAT DO THOSE SHOW!?"

"FUCKING LIFE MAN. WATER STARTED LIFE, IT HOLDS TH' ANSWER TO IT MATE."

With her eyes somehow going wider, the clearly drunk as fuck dragoness stumbled into the kitchen, turning on the sink faucet and staring at it.

...........

............................

..................

"SWEET BURNING PETUNIAS SERIFF, YOU'RE RIGHT! THE BEGINNING AND THE END IS ALL CLEAR..." She trailed off, continuing to stare at the water before a single golden tear streaked down her cheek.

"IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL. LIKE, LIKE RAINBOWS AND GLITTER DECIDED TO FORNICATE AND SOMEHOW ENDED UP HAVING A LOVE CHILD WITH DEATH ITSELF."

The observing skeletons, frozen in place with a mixture of amusement and horror at the ramblings of Seriff and Meraki, were uncertain about what to do. "should... should we stop them?"

"I... _can we_?"

As the sober skeletons stared between themselves and the two drunk/high beings before them, Meraki somehow ended up taking another sip of Omorose's magic, and sneezed. When she sneezed, however, a massive fucking laser blast of light magic shot through the walls and breached the outside world, continuing onwards to incinerate several trees on contact before it finally blasted off into the horizon.

"...OOPSIES!"

Seriff seemed to ignore the blast, turning his very fucked attention to the archway he was leaning against and the walls, "BRUH LIKE, THE WALLS ARE FUCKING BREATHING." He screamed, before looking down the hall to see if all of them were doing so as well, "ALL OF THEM ARE- Wait... WAIT IS THAT SANTA? SANTA WHY ARE YOU HERE? IT'S ONLY JULY!!!"

.....It was the middle of October though...

"SANTA!? THAT BITCH GAVE ME COAL FOR CHRISTMAS WHEN I WAS SEVEN!" The dragoness, now enraged, tripped onto the floor and landed on her face, somehow not spilling a drop of Omorose's magic drink. She soon got up, however, crawling over to the doorway that Seriff was in and using it as a stable surface to lean upon.

"IT ACTUALLY IS SANTA. I'VE GOT A SCORE TO SETTLE WITH YOU, JOLLY MAN!" And before anyone could stop her, she took another sip of the magic, and aimed the resulting blast of energy down the hallway. "FFFFFFUCK OOOOFFFFFFFF!"

The drink was thereby confiscated by Giant, a cap placed upon the top of the glass before it was swiftly pocketed. “I have deemed it necessary to keep this in an air-tight container for testing.” The taller being looked down at Omorose in a stern fatherly way. “Never let anyone drink your magic ever again. After I have acquired a sufficient amount of data, you will rid the world of this.”

“Yes…”

“i’m doubtful that even acidtale me could handle it due to this display…” Sans muttered in utter shock and worry. He seemed to be doing that often ever since Omorose’s arrival.

"WAIT MERAKI, MAYBE HE THOUGHT CUZ YOU WERE A DRAGON YOU NEEDED SOMETHIN' TO BUILD UP YOUR FLAMES. DON'T FRY SANTA!!!"

"WAIT REALLY?" Meraki screamed, an expression of horror and regret upon her face as she regarded the scorch marks on the walls. "I'M SORRY, SANTA! I THOUGHT YOU DID IT OUT OF SPIIIIIIITE!"

Quickly, she turned to Seriff and hugged him, sorta smushing the two up against the side of the doorway he had been leaning against. "TELL SANTA I DIDN'T MEAN IT PLZ!"

"SUDDENLY I'M FUCKING HERMES, MESSENGER OF THE GODS BUT OKAY. SANTAAAA. MERAKI DIDNT MEAN IT!!"

"THANK YOOOOUUUU!" The dragoness platonically kissed Seriff's zygomatic bones and released him, promptly falling onto the floor again and this time staying there. It seemed that she was no longer able to properly use her fine motor skills. "DUDE... SER... YOU'RE LIKE MY BEST FRIEND EVER."

"I KNOW, YOU LIKE, TELL ME EVERYDAY."

“I am highly disturbed at this moment in the extremely strange concept known as time…” Omorose murmured before moving to lightly fan at Meraki’s face. “I shall make it a point so that my magic is never consumable again..”

Sluggishly bringing her hands up to Omorose's face, Meraki obtained an unusually serious expression, and continued speaking very, very loudly. "NO BEAUTIFUL, IT MUST BE AVAILABLE FOR THE FUTURE. WE CAN LIKE, PUT IT INTO BOMBS OF LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP, AND THROW THEM AT OUR ENEMIES!"

"OR LIKE, WHEN SOMEONE DIES AND EVERYONE IS ALL DEPRESSED. YOU COULD LIKE, PUT A DROP OF IT IN A BOWL OF PUNCH."

“D’ooookay, break day’s over. Time to get everyone into bed.” Geno said, standing up. “‘Specially those two.”

There were plenty murmurs of agreement, and Omorose picked up her dragon caretaker with a soft sigh. “Time for bed, Madame.”

"I would follow but like, _I can't fuckin move mate_ ," Seriff whispered. "I think I'm glued to the archway."

Meraki gasped, reaching out towards Seriff and whispering back to him, "Nooooooooo, somebody unglue him, I don't want my bestie to be stuck in a doorway for the rest of his liiiife..."

"I'mma be stuck for rest of my life?"

Shifting Meraki so she could carry her in one arm, Omorose reached out to Seriff and took him into her other arm. It was a comical sight, seeing a six-foot woman hold a full grown woman who was slightly shorter than herself, and then pick up a young adult skeleton who was slightly taller than her.

“It seems you are not bound to the wall by adhesive after all. I don’t suppose you could tell me where your bedroom is?”

Seriff's eyesockets widened more, the kitty face at full blast, "Bruh... You're like a glue remover..." He whispered, before pointing up the stairs, "My room is that-a-way..."

Omorose gave everyone else a nod of farewell before carrying the drugged ones up the steps to their beds.

It had been quite a day, despite it being one for breaks.

Despite the loudness that was Meraki, you could hear Seriff whisper under his breath, "I still want that whiskey though..."

* * *

The piano. It was something Seriff had always enjoyed doing but because he lacked an arm, could not actually play. But because of Omorose's accidental miracle, he had her to thank for being able to enjoy his beloved hobby once more. To show his thanks, he gave her piano lessons every passing night.

She was a fast learner.

“Now for this piece, you’re gonna use both hands… This one’s sorta different cause you open up with your right instead of the left, givin’ a lighthearted tone to it. But the left isn’t doin' much, so you should be fine.”

“I see… Which key am I to use for this one?”

“Look at the sheet paper Sheila, what does it say?”

“Mm…” She glanced at the sheet music placed on the piano stand in front of her, her eyes searching. “C… Major?”

“Yeah, that’s right. What’s the hand position for it?”

“…..” She adjusted her fingers quickly before looking to him for approval. With his responding smirk, her eyes lit up at the confirmation.

“Now, you’re gonna start off with your right like I told ya. After the first measure, you join with your left, like the sheet music says. You were able to pick up reading the music quickly, so this should be quick for you too. Remember to relax; keeping your wrists stiff like that will make it harder to press the keys.” Seriff adjusted the Void-woman’s hands a little, before tapping the paper in front of them. “Don’t rush, just take a deep breath and start when yer ready.”

There was a moment of silence as Omorose warily regarded the keys before her before she took his device. With a deep slow breath, her fingers began to move across the ivory.

She was quiet of course, having been asked by Seriff to not strike the keys so hard since it was late at night and everyone was sleeping, but that gave the song a delicate and sort of fragile sense to it. It flowed sweetly in the air, with only a hiccup or two in the timing, but Seriff didn’t mind. It was song he knew well, one filled with nostalgia.

_Memory._

Even with the repeat needed for the song to sound right, it seemed the music ended all too quickly as Seriff had started to daydream because of the lovely music. He hardly noticed when she played the ending note, and she had to actually call his name to get to snap out of it. “Mm? Oh, ya finished already… That was pretty good for yer first time around; with some practice to hammer out the rough timin’, you should be alright! …..Mind playin’ it for me again? This time, try to be a bit more consistent with the pace.”

“Yes M- Ah… Seriff.” He chuckled a bit at her quick adaptation to his request from earlier in the night, feeling way older than he liked by being called Mister, leaning his head on his knee as he watched her start again and the song flowed forth once more. He let his sockets close as he listened, and released a sigh of content.  “This must be wha' brotherly pride feels like…”

It was then the song cut off midway, leaving the cliffhanger of the tune just hanging in the air. Taken by surprise, Seriff opened his sockets and glanced over at the Void-child only to see her staring back at him in utter confusion. “…What’s wrong?”

“That word… I’ve heard that word so much since my arrival…” She muttered, her fingers twitching in the air from their frozen position. “Mister Blue says it to Mister Honey… As well as Captain Edge to Mister Red, Mister Papyrus to Mister Sans, etcetera…”

Her hands fell back down to her lap as her expression became contemplative. “‘Brother’… What is a ‘brother’? I have asked the others before, but… I have received various answers. I am afraid of gaining false information, like the one time I asked Mister Red for information.” She frowned before looking over to him again. “You do not tend to deceive me, however. Perhaps you could inform me?”

Oh.

“…Well, ya got mixed answers because it depends on the person ya ask, Rosy.” He began, wondering how precisely he was going to explain. “Some people don’t have brothers, ya know? So to them, a brother is by definition a siblin' that uses male pronouns. Other times people don’t get along with their brothers, so they either think of them as the scum of the earth, or refuse to call them brother at all.” He explained, rubbing at his chin. “But to those that love and care about their brothers… Well, it can mean a lotta things.”

“…What does being a ‘brother’ consist of?”

“Again Sheila, it depends. Sometimes on if you’re the older or younger brother.” Seriff replied with a shrug. “For some, it means annoyin’ the hell out of your siblings all the time. It could mean gettin’ to do stuff that they can’t. It could also mean ya try to avoid them all the time.”

“…Then… What does it mean for you?” Seriff blinked a couple of times in shock before giving a wry grin.

“Curious little bugger, aren’t ya…? Well, as an older brotha… To me? It means always takin’ care of my siblin’s. Being there to make them smile, laugh, annoy ‘em a little with pranks…” He couldn’t help but snicker to himself at how many pranks he had pulled on his Frisk and Asriel. “But it also means… Always being there if they need a shoulda to cry on, and leaving if it means they’ll stay safe. Not lettin’ anyone hurt them or lead ‘em astray. You’ll protect them no matter what, and you’ll do anythin’ to see ‘em happy… Being a good big brotha is tough, but rewardin’.”

Seriff hadn’t realized he had been going on for so long until he caught her unfathomable stare. He coughed into his hand in embarrassment, glancing away as she muttered to herself. “I… See…”

“U-Uh, yeah…” He mumbled back, reaching up to rub the back of his skull with a bit of an uncomfortable grimace.

“I… never had such a thing in the Anti-Void.” He glanced back in her direction and was surprised to see something of a… melancholic expression on her face as she stared down at her hands. “I was… Alone. I was always alone. But I was unaware that I was being deprived social interaction, that there even was such a thing… I believe I read a term that described it… What was it…? Oh, yes, ‘Ignorance is bliss.’ Ignorant was a perfect word to describe myself. What I still am.”

Was uncomfortable the wrong word to describe what Seriff was feeling at this moment? He had never known that ditzy and innocent seeming Omorose thought so… deeply about things.

“Upon entering this dimension and even during the time that has passed, my many deprivations have blinded me… It is the reason I am excited to learn as much as possible. But I am… Incredibly behind in this world. I am unaware if I had such familial relations before… I knew nothing before the Anti-Void, as I had been trapped there for as long as my memory became reliable. I may not understand… But I see.” He glanced down, seeing her fingers tighten sharply against the hem of her shirt.

“I _see_ the piteous looks, I _see_ the mistrust in the eyes of many of those that watch over my progress here. But I do not understand _why._ Is my morality doomed before I may even discern what it is? Is my education a… lost cause?” Biting her lip, Omorose seemed to shake a little in her seat.  “It is possible I may be executed if I cannot learn quick enough… Or perhaps I would be returned to the Anti-Void and kept there. But after all that I have learned… And the relationships that I am forming, and the sights I have seen… I do not… _wish_ to go back…” Her voice was soft and weak, even more so than the piano piece that she had just played. _“I do not want to be alone again…”_

Seriff… didn’t exactly know how to react to the sudden turn that the conversation had taken, but he wasn’t just going to sit there and let the girl fall to bits.

“…You don’t have to go back there if ya don’t want to, Rosy.” Reaching out, he placed his hand on her shoulder. She jumped a little at the contact but ultimately relaxed into it. “And ya don’t have to die either. Trust me, there’s no way Meraki and I would let the others hurt ya at all. Not to mention some of ‘em are crazy about ya, you know? And yeah, you are behind, and I mean waaaaay behind, in the eyes of society but you’re a really fast learner. I mean, you train with your magic for several hours straight every other day without complaint. I’ve seen you gobble down books and then rattle off information and analysis like it’s a talent. And look, you learned how to play basic double handed songs on the piano in like, what, three nights? If that’s not talent, I dunno what is. And with Meraki and I to back ya up, you got a shitload of advantages to help ya catch up.. We protect the people we care about.” He flashed what he hoped was a comforting smile as his hand shifted to pat her back. “Don’t worry… You got plenty of time to figure out what ya are. Meraki’s not gonna abandon you and neither am I. I don’t wanna, and it’s really hard to get me to do things I don’t wanna do.”

“…Mm. I… I see…” She murmured softly to herself, her troubled frown alleviating into something much more thoughtful. After a moment or two in silence, she straightened in her seat as something came to her. Her eyes widened slowly before she turned sparkling eyes and what could only be described as a hopeful expression towards him. “Does that make… _You_ my brother by definition?"

………………………………..How this void-child could turn from pure angst into something too cute and pure for this world at the drop of a hat, Seriff would never know.

…But, he didn’t exactly have the heart to say no to that face.

“….Sure Rosy.” He could feel his cheekbones grow hot as he lifted his hand to place it atop her head. “I’ll be your brotha.”

“T-Truly?!”

“Y-Yeah…” He muttered under his breath.

“Oh, happy nights~!” She called out in glee before she stopped short with a bright-eyed look. “Oh… Does that make me your brother too?”

Seriff had to hold back a really amused chuckle. “-Snrk- W-Well uh… You’re a girl right?” He would not laugh at how she had to look down at herself and check before nodding in confirmation. He would  _not._ “You identify as a girl?”

“….. I can identify as something else? I was not aware that this was conceivable.” Oh boy. Was he going to regret this conversation?

“Yeah, ya can. For example… I, uh.. was born a girl. But I prefer ta be called a boy. So everyone refers ta me by male pronouns instead o' girl ones.” She blinked owlishly in response.

“So you have a predilection as being seen as a male.”

“Yeah.”

“Despite being conceived as a female.”

“…Yeah.”

“……And if I wish, I may choose to identify as male myself?”

“Yeah, if ya want.” Something inside him eased at her easy acceptance of his preferences. “You could say ya want to be called a girl, a boy, or neither. Or even both if that’s what you want.”

“…..I believe I would have to consider the concept for myself before making a definite decision. Such a change in lifestyle seems metamorphic, and therefore, stressful.” Seriff had an amusing thought of how she had no idea how right she was before she spoke again. “So, if I wish to be referred to by my assigned gender?”

“Then you’d be called a sister.”

“Sister…” Omorose seemed to muse on the word for a bit before giving a gentle smile. “You’re my brother. I’m your sister. I find these titles to be… Pleasant.”

“Good.” Seriff chuckled, reaching out to change the sheet of music for something new. “I don’t find it too bad meself.”


	10. Don't Juggle In Laboratories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I mean it, don't do it. This will happen and everyone will be screwed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ulti: ...I had a little too much fun doing this xD  
> Opti: Eheh... Me too. ^^;

"Fucking bastards and their inability to fucking put a damn machine together."

"You'd think they would at least learn the fucking basics to soul science but _noooooooo_."

"Would it have killed them to fucking learn? Apparently!!"

Giant snorted from the other side of the room, working on a concoction of his own while listening to the Australian slowly get more and more _done_ with everything in this mansion.

Last night Omorose had gained another tattoo, one that had been quite hard to miss considering it took up almost her entire upper arm and shoulder. So, to make sure everything was fine (and so the others wouldn't try anything) Seriff took her and Meraki down to the lab to get a read on her soul and make sure everything was fine.

But first, he had to calibrate the machine that read the damned things.

Which is why he was on his back, under the machine, crossing wire and turning dials while muttering insults toward the other skeletons in a thicker than usual accent.

Meraki, seated by the toolbox for Seriff, had decided to start juggling roughly seven or eight of them at a time. Whenever the Aussie needed a new one, she'd toss it to him in the same moment that he tossed his current tool to her, keeping the cycle of juggled objects going smoothly. This was... a slightly precarious situation, especially since the BabyBlasters had come downstairs and decided to add _more_ things to the juggling.

"Sorry dudes, but the ceiling is too low to add more objects. Unless I started running back and forth or juggling with a second person, thirty is my limit."

Honestly, with the way the dragoness acted, it was a surprise that she wasn't a Sans herself. ~~Plot twist: She's eaten enough Sanses to start acting like them. You are what you eat, and a dragon's gotta eat.~~

Kit, his browbones furrowed in concentration, watched the way Meraki tossed the objects. It was easy to see a question forming within his skull, and naturally, it wasn't long before said question was asked. "Can you teach us to juggle?"

.......

"Sure! Now, it's best to start with two objects-"

Oh dear.

Omorose, having began studying the new tattoo she had gained last night, regularly looked up to watch her caretaker play with the babybones and glance over at her new brother with what Giant (since he had not yet had the pleasure of knowing exactly _why_ ) noted was a much more affectionate expression than usual. The tattoo on her arm could be described as two stars—one upright and a sort of maroon color and one upside down and a light blue— overlapping each other, with a white broken heart motif in the middle, large and in plain sight on her shoulder. Spiraling intricate designs trailed down her upper arm and halted before her elbow.

Wearing a black halter top that showed off her back as well as her arms, it was apparent that the new tattoo was just _slightly_ smaller than the dragon wings motif on her back.

Seriff sighed, muttering something about the others with words of great disrespect. He slid out from under the machine and stood up, dusting his clothes off.

....He would admit, the plaid was starting to grow on him.

"Okay, the machine is calibrated as best as I can get it. It's a really old version; they really need a new one. Honestly, what kinda machine needed in a lab still needs fucking oil?"

"A shitty one. Even the humans have better technology than this." Meraki's comment was no distraction to her juggling, and nearby, Kit and Pup could be seen trying to copy her. Pup was currently doing a bit better than his brother at the moment, keeping three objects in the air for roughly twenty seconds before one fell, whereas Kit could only keep three objects in the air for five seconds.

"Hey, Beautiful, wanna learn how to juggle?"

“Mmm?” Omorose had been lost in thought before her nickname had been called, and just nodded in reply. She approached and began to watch the hand movements of the three of them, humming as she watched.

Giant hummed thoughtfully, standing up and heading for the stairs. His little experiment needed to stand idle for a while, and no doubt the kids were hungry by now- he'd just grab some lunch and be right back down.

"Bro, think fast!" Pup enthusiastically tossed one of his objects over to Kit, causing the other to screech in surprise. Somehow, a catastrophe was avoided by the babyblaster successfully catching and juggling it, although he was visibly sweating whilst doing so.

Pup gasped in awe, applauding his big bro, and watched him with stars in his eyes. That look was enough to make the other relax a bit, and he juggled more smoothly.

Meraki proceeded to provide encouraging commentary, dramatic effect in full swing. "Look at that flawless technique! That style, that determination! You're seeing this live, folks- Kit is on the way to becoming a master juggler!"

Seriff clapped (a thing he could now do with two hands) encouragingly, "Look at that ankle biter go." He mused, though his eye lights flickered towards Giant's station when he noticed the other was gone.

Wait....

Was that stuff supposed to look like that?

Omorose clapped excitedly in response, giggling at the impressive display. “Very good Kit, you’re doing wonderfully-“ She cut herself short as she felt a small magical surge coming from Giant’s station. She turned her head in the direction of the sudden abnormality before pointing.

“Is his project supposed to be doing that?"

One glance was all it took, and Kit was successfully distracted, the objects he'd been juggling sent flying in many directions. As though it were in slow-motion, the baseball Pup had added soared gracefully over the many tables and benches in between the group and Giant's experiment, crashing into the containment unit and successfully shattering it.

Off in the distance outside the mansion, a few birds were scattered from the treetops, disturbed by the loud explosion that rocked the building.

There was only green and purple gas in the basement labs now, seeping up the staircases and alerting the other skeletons as to the source of the explosion. Giant, in particular, had a massive 'oh shit' expression upon his skull, and he quickly activated the ventilation system in the basement to clear it out before anyone could be affected by it.

Well... anyone _else_.

"Giant...." Geno started, looking towards the door that lead to the lab, "Weren't Seriff and the kids down there?"

“…And possibly the girls…?” The scientist offered with a cringe, watching as everyone else promptly gained horrified expressions before rushing downstairs once the air was properly cleared.

The first thing the skeletons heard was a squeaky cry of "HOLY SHIT," followed by maniacal laughter in a very high pitched tone of voice.

The first thing they saw was two adult BabyBlasters, looking very dazed, and _oh no, they're hot_. Naturally, some of the skeletons stopped there, but others were drawn to the source of maniacal laughter...

Three small children. Seriff, Meraki, and Omorose, visible in that order, had been turned into children while the BabyBlasters had been turned into adults. Specifically, Meraki was the one laughing, as she stared at the other two children fumbling in their oversized clothes, while her own were somehow fitted to her form perfectly.

Must've been some weird magic shit.

Seriff was swearing, not even bothering to try and get up. He was also, funnily enough, the youngest of the group, being now only two. ~~Oh god the terrible two stage may the gods have mercy on their souls.~~ Omorose was three, and Meraki was five.

"Dis is why we don't fuckin' juggle in da fuckin' lab." Seriff's now tiny Aussie accent swore angrily, though it was really hard to take him seriously when he was practically swaddled in his old hoodie, the fluff making his angry pout all that more adorable.

Omorose, however, was really trying to get back onto her feet… But it just wasn’t happening; every time she would get a leg up and step, her clothes would catch on her feet and she would fall flat on her face again.

After about five or so tries, she realized the futility of it all and just laid still on her stomach before speaking up in a very high pitched and lisp filled voice. “I wequire assistansh pwease…”

"Oh my god," Geno began, before he was promptly grabbed and given a shortcut out of sight.

Do not let Geno go Yandere on cute things. Just don't do it. It'll end badly.

There was, however, someone happy to complete his usual statement. "THEY'RE ADORABLE," Blueberry cried, rushing over to stand beside the chibi children along with Raspberry.

"I'M GONNA KEEP THEM," the FellSwap Sans added, crouching down to peer Seriff in the eyesockets.

Yeah. If a Sans had to crouch to be eye-to-eye with someone, they were pretty fuckin' short. Meraki was quite amused at being the tallest of the three now, whereas previously she'd been the shortest.

Seriff backed away from the FellSwap Sans as best as a two-year-old in large clothing could, which unfortunately wasn't much. His slitted eyelights (usually kept out of sight with his half-lidded sockets) were shown completely. One could be pretty sure that if you took off his hoodie and over-sized plaid shirt, you could see a tiny little skeletal tail to match his eyelights.

"Beautiful, you're so smol and cute. I could squish your cheeks. And I will. SQUISH." The cheeks were squished.

“Nnnnn-!!!” Omorose whined in response, flailing her arms in her distress. “I oo nah diswike th’ sqwishes, buh pwease, I nee’ oo geh uuuuup!!” She began rolling around on her back in a renewed effort to stand up again, but really just looked like a cute turtle that had been flipped onto its back. “Nnnngaaaaahhhh!” She then returned to the position that she had been in the first place, tearing up slightly at her in vain efforts.

After a little more giggling, Meraki proceeded to reach over and grab the oversized clothes of the other children- one handful each- and used some odd, colorless magic upon them. Within seconds, the clothing was now the right sizes, and several scientist skeletons were intrigued.

At their looks, the tiny dragoness merely smirked. "Shapeshifting, bitch. Natural magic at its finest. Most Immortal species possess this ability in some measure, and I happen to be one of them."

Seriff huffed, frowning at his now tiny jacket. "did... did yew make my jacket fwuff fwuffier?"

Yes. Yes, she did.

That bitch.

He barely got to say another word before he was picked up from under his arms and smooshed into someone's chest.

~~Wake Me Up~~

~~Wake Me Up Inside~~

“Much Obwiged.” Omorose nodded to her… She couldn’t say caretaker anymore now that Meraki was a five year old, could she? What a conundrum.

She once again hefted herself up to her feet but was immediately swept up into someone’s arms as a result. That someone, was Lust.

“oh honey, you’re absolutely adorable! you were cute before, of course, but wow~!”

Omorose stared blankly in return, feeling her eye twitch _juuuust_ a bit. She had nothing against the skeleton of course, but she had wanted to be on her own two feet for a flippin’ reason.

_Speaking of standing…_

“It’s so hard to walk while being so big!!” Pup wailed as he attempted to take a shaky step, his brother having already tripped and just deciding to stay prone on the floor.

_…the now adult babybones were failing at it._

Meraki snickered at the misfortune of Kit and Pup, before turning her attention to the lifted Seriff and Omorose. Or, more specifically, the skeletons that held them. "Buh-scuse you lot, just because we're physically children doesn't mean we wish to be picked up and handled like them. Put them down before I go dragon and eat your nonexistent asses."

"...nah."

Seriff let out a very unhappy whine as he tried to get out of Blueberry's arms, "Bwue, lemme go gawddammit!" His legs kicked while he squirmed helplessly in the now taller Sans' arms. Damn, he didn't like this new height change. Everyone was bigger than him now.

It hasn't even been five fucking minutes and he already missed being tall.

Omorose liked being touched.

Omorose liked being cuddled.

However, Omorose did not like being smothered.

This, what Lust was doing right now, was _smothering_.

So she did the best thing she believed could get her out of her current situation.

” _Mistew Fwesh, assistansh pwease!!!_ ”

“Sure thing Chibi-Chip!” Fresh popped up out of nowhere, startling poor Lust and promptly snatched BB Rose out of his hands before disappearing once more.

“hey!”

Meraki, seeing her opportunity, was quick to shift into her dragon form. At this age, it was roughly the size of a small horse, but she had all the power her adult form had. The Immortal species was weird that way.

"I gave you fair warning, remember that." With that said, the dragoness suddenly darted around Raspberry and into Blueberry, sending the former stumbling to the side and the latter backward, where they each landed respectively. Seriff was now in the open on Blueberry's chest, and with all the nobility and epicness a dragon could muster, Meraki gripped the back of his shirt in her teeth and darted off.

Seriff curled up in Meraki's grasp like a kitten in its mother's hold. It was a lot better than being smushed into someone. ~~Although he did like cuddles, he would never mention it, and there was certainly a difference between being cuddled and being smothered as Omorose showed earlier.~~

...the three small children were now at large, and the two adult BlasterBros were laying on the floor without the coordination to walk around.

Omorose had already been dropped off into the living room, and promptly thanked Fresh as he disappeared before scaling the couch and curling up near the arm of it. Upon Meraki’s entrance with Seriff, she stood and threw herself towards the two of them, fixing herself so she could ride on Meraki’s back. If they were making a grand escape, she wanted in. “Ish thish owkay Madame?”

Meraki responded by hefting her wings slightly to support Omorose and nodding, being careful not to let the curled up Seriff drop from her teeth. Once the void-child was secured, the Meraki Express set off at decent speeds, darting through several open doorways and up a few staircases towards the attic. The bottom bunk of the girls' bed was a nice and dark place to relax; secluded, secure, and it had multiple escape routes. Grabby smothering skeleton hands could fuck off.

A Sans passing by almost spotted them- Orion, floating up along the ceiling- but the dragoness was like a shadow in the night, a shadow that bumped into a vase and sent it crashing down just before she darted through a nearby doorway to escape sight. "Dif oo see aat? Ike a bowf!" She continued, a smirk gracing her scaled features.

Seriff let out a soft giggle at Meraki's words, before squirming, "Kay ya c'n put me down now."

After being placed safely down into the ground, Seriff crawled over towards the bed. He was _really_ tired for some reason. But he wasn't going to sleep on top of the bed, no. He went underneath the bed, going towards the corner closest to the wall.

Omorose had a hearty mental debate about the pros and cons of staying on Meraki’s back and slipping under the bed beside Seriff, before deciding that more room was the best thing here and toppled gracefully off of her Guardian’s back before crawling underneath the bed to curl up next to Seriff.

It was still difficult for her to attempt sleep of course, but she could at least keep a look out.

The dragoness peered beneath the bed for a few seconds, before retreating and shifting back into her human form. She wanted pictures of this adorableness, and she would get them. ~~Seriff was a fucking kitten skeleton and Omorose was smol babbu, there was no option _besides_ getting pictures of this.~~

_Click. Click. Click._

Those pictures were being backed up too- even a dragon is susceptible to cute things.

"Alrighty then, while you two hang out there, I'mma stay out here 'n keep watch. You're my second, Omorose. Our mission is to help Seriff sleep without interruption! Fight or talk to any skeletons who dare interrupt such an adorable thing until they leave!"

Seriff glared at being called adorable but decided it just wasn't worth it. Knowing Meraki she would just continue to call him adorable and any other synonym to the word even if he told her not to.

 **Especially** , if he told her not to.

Curling up into a small ball, the smol skellie fell asleep in less than seconds.

Omorose nodded in response, throwing a protective arm around her adoptive brother, and cuddling into him close with her head pressed against the floor to listen to all the commotion going on downstairs.

Many people were running back and forth and arguing, it sounded like.

"Shit shit shit shit where did they go!? Edge, do you know?"

"BITCH WHY WOULD YOU ASK ME, I JUST GOT BACK HERE FROM WORK! AND WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT ANYWAYS? WHO IS MISSING?"

"seriff and omorose and meraki were turned into children by an experiment of giant's. and then they ran off. the babyblasters are adults now too, by the way."

There was a long pause, in which the Fell Papyrus seemed to be contemplating this new information.

"...RED, GET OVER HERE."

"yeah bro?"

"GO FIND THE CHILDREN AND LET ME KNOW WHEN YOU DO. DON'T MOVE THEM OR LET THEM BE MOVED. WE'RE GOING TO BRING THEM UP AS OUR OWN."

"... _What!?_ "

"COME NOW, DON'T TELL ME THAT IT WOULDN'T BE FUCKING EPIC TO HAVE SERIFF, AN ANOMALY, AND A DRAGON AS OUR CHILDREN."

"...true, true. i'll start lookin' bro."

………………

That sounded troubling.

“Madame, I suggesht we foind a wessh owbvious hiding pwace, forw they intend to adopt ush. Captain Edge souwnds ada-… adi… a-add… Grr, detewmined!”

Meraki considered this for a few moments and looked over at the small window that led to the roof.

Hmm... it wasn't too small for them now. They could all fit through at the same time, actually, if they wanted to.

"Alright, escape plan created! We'll climb up onto the roof, and there I'll go back into dragon form, and I'll fly you both to my cave! Mission objectives: climb onto the roof, escape the premises, and not wake up Seriff while doing so. Sound good to you, Beautiful?"

She nodded quietly and immediately began scooting out from under the bed, before gently scooping Seriff into her arms and easing him gently onto her back so he could cling. Seriff shifted, whining softly at being moved but remaining asleep, his tail wrapping around Omorose to keep him in a more secure position.

The anomaly had a vague thought of how her brother probably had similarities to a koala right now.

“I am weady. Wet’s go.”

After a few moments of snapping pictures of this scene, Meraki led the escape through the window, holding onto the edge to help Omorose and the sleeping Seriff safely onto the roof.

Safe roof climbing. Just an everyday activity for children these days, nothing to see here.

"Okay Omorose, get ready to climb onto my back." With that, the dragoness shifted and lifted her wings slightly to test the wind flowing over the mansion.

Walking across the roof carefully, the toddler anomaly hefted herself onto Meraki’s back and shifted so she would be a bit more comfortable in her seat. “Owkay, I’m suwfficient.”

Thus, the three children set off gliding over the treetops...

And then a shout was heard behind them, one of the skeletons having spotted them through the window. "OH MY STARS GUYS, SOMEBODY GET ORION OR PLUTO, THE KIDS ARE IN THE AIR."

What, you thought the chapter was over already? Hah! Nah, these skeletons ain't letting the kids go so easily.

“Ish thish what annowance feews wike…? Being cawed a chiweld when it is owbvious it is merewy our bowdies that have wevewted back to juveniwe forwm and not ouw moinds?” Omorose asked, feeling her eye twitch once again. The lisp she had gained upon her regression back to pre-pubescence was becoming… Irritating. It was difficult to pronounce the words she knew.

One of the skeletons, seeing the kids fly off, had the lovely idea to throw 'em a bone.

No like, literally. Axe (a Horrortale Sans who was visiting the mansion) decided the best way to stop them was to throw a fucking bone attack towards them.

Because child endangerment isn't a thing apparently.

Omorose released an unholy shriek as the magic humerus whizzed past her ear, jerking to the side in her shock.

However, this had the effect of causing Omorose (and consequently Seriff as he was clinging to her) to lose balance and fall off Meraki’s back.

Many of those present shouted, screamed as they witnessed the horrifying sight of two children beginning to plummet to what was sure to be their death, but the eerie noise halted as they watched what happened next.

Dear little Omorose had turned into a dragon.

A. Fucking. _Little. Gray. Dragon._

……A dragon carrying a now awake and terribly pissed off kitten-like skeleton.

Seriff hissed, arching his back while clinging to the back of Omorose.... who was transforming into a dragon? He dropped his aggression for a moment of confusion, turning his head to see the mansion behind him.

...

He whined, curling closer to Omorose so he didn't fall off, "Da fuq did I miss whiwe I was asweep?"

“Shomeone had the absowutewy gwowious idea of thwowing a bone at ush. Whiwe we wewe eshcaping. An’ high up in th’ aiw.” Oh no. Omorose was using sarcasm. She was showing salt. The world was going to end. “I bewieve this ish angew I am feewing.” She hissed before moving back towards an awaiting Meraki. “C'n we weave now?”

"I am going to fawn over those glorious scales of yours when we arrive at my cave, but yes we can leave for now."

Meraki, absolutely delighted by this development in her charge- that didn't change even tho they were all kids now- set off in the direction of her cave. It wasn't far away, as those of you who read the second chapter know, but it was well hidden and relatively protected. One could only find it by physically walking into the entrance.

Seriff, now fully adjusted to the height altitude, nodded his head and pointed a direction in where they were going. He had only one chance to say this before they arrived, and he was not gonna fuckin waste it.

"TO DA BAT CAVE."

* * *

It was perhaps an hour before they actually arrived (being of a diminutive size probably did horrors to their ability to get to other places faster) and Omorose did her best to come to a safe landing, looking back the way they had just come.

“Were we fowowed?”

On the ground, Meraki shrugged in response to Omorose's inquiry, and looked over at the tree that'd been transformed into a giant lily. "We _prooooobably_ weren't, but we should be extra fast and stealthy just in case we were."

Seriff squirmed, letting put a tired yawn. Now that the adrenaline of being woken up by falling had worn off, he was back to being tired. "Cun we huwy up den? M'tiwed."

Omorose nodded in response. “Wead th’ way Madame.”

Peering around carefully, the dragoness made certain nobody was nearby, before running around a few bushes and sprinting headlong through more bushes, towards a rock wall, and through the rock wall.

Wait, what?

A few moments later, the dragoness leaned her head out of the rock wall and gestured for Omorose to carry Seriff in. "C'mon, once you're inside, people won't be able to sense our souls. I paid a Witch Immortal some good shit for this enchantment."

Grasping Seriff’s jacket with her mouth and picking him up like he was a kitten, she quickly followed after her and rushed through the rock wall with not a problem. She padded into the den, looking around at the familiar surroundings before putting Seriff down once again beside a boulder.

Seriff grumbled under his breath, plopping over into a comfortable position and falling right back asleep. The fluff of his jacket getting smooshed slightly against the object of bedding choice and Seriff- wait, was he sucking his thumb in his sleep?

_Aw, that is adorable._

Now that they were hidden nicely, Meraki took a few pictures of the sleeping Seriff and then moved to take pictures of the smol dragon Omorose. The aesthetic appreciation commenced.

"Your scales are absolutely gorgeous, beautiful. Such a silky grey; they match your hair when you're in human form, just like mine do." She moved forward, brushing a few fingertips over the scales in both directions. "Durable, nice and sharp, looks like you've got a natural defense bonus that's as good as mine in this form. Understandable, considering that you likely emulated me with the shifting, unless this is your birth form. Do you remember hatching from an egg? Dragon Immortals usually remember that event quite vividly."

Omorose shook her head. “I do not wemebew anythun’ befowe the Ante-Voiwd.” She replied, sighing. “I jus’ looked at yew whiwe I was fawing, and… Chanjed. Yoosh an examp'e. Do I wook wike yew?”

"Indeed you do, lovely. Quite similar, perhaps even identical- although I can't say for certain due to my inability to see all parts of my own body from a third person perspective." Tapping her lips, the dragoness walked around Omorose several times more, careful not to disturb the sleeping Seriff. "The scale pattern does follow my own... perhaps you have a mimicry magic. Your soul is partially silver, and you're confirmed to have reflection magic- maybe you mirrored my base genotype construction and filled in the blanks of appearance with your own phenotype." Meraki nodded to herself, satisfied with this theory, before stopping to stand before the gray-scaled dragon and peer into her amethyst eyes. "Does that sound about right to you?"

Omorose nodded rapidly, a deep shudder running through her before she transformed back into her humanoid state. Unfortunately, still a child.

"I hafe wead of thad. Si'ver ha' many adfantajes..." She grumbled, ultimately distracted by her inability to pronounce any words correctly. "Ish hawd to speak..."

"Welp, I'm happy I'm five. I can still pronounce things the way I normally would... probably." Meraki shrugged. "I don't actually remember what words I had issues with when I was five. Too many centuries ago."

That said, the cognac-eyed child made her way over to the section of her cave that held some small fraction of her overall hoard, and flopped over into a pile of gold coins and various trinkets that seemed to glow. "C'mere. I wanna teach ya stuff. I might be physically young, but knowledge is still in my possession."

Omorose merely nodded, sick of hearing the many slurs and lisps she now had as she waddled on over to Meraki’s side, holding up her long hair so she wouldn’t trip over it. She curled up to her caretaker with a smile, before giving a thumbs up.

* * *

So... Perhaps throwin' the kids a bone was a bad idea.

Although Axe thought it was hilarious how some of them screamed like little bitches.

His large red eyelight scanned the area, trying to look for any signs where the three could have gone. They had sent him into the forest in order to find the kids since he was the one who decided to throw a bone at them.

...Not alone of course, that would be ridiculous.

"REALLY AXE, FIRING AN ATTACK AT SOMEONE FRIENDLY TO STOP THEM IS ENTIRELY INAPPROPRIATE! HAVE YOU NO STANDARDS!?"

They'd stuck him with Blueberry. And Blueberry was now berating him quite thoroughly. Fun, fun, fun!

NOT.

They'd also stuck him with Syrup, cuz he had a good sniffer on 'im, but at least _Syrup_ was chill. Blueberry was annoying as shit.

“…..” Syrup was just planning to stay quiet, but he wasn’t exactly simpatico with Axe himself. Especially since he fired on baby Seriff. Meraki, he was chill with, but he knew she could easily handle herself, even as a five-year-old. He had been warming up to Omorose since her arrival though, and he felt a healthy dose of slight panic upon seeing her tiny three-year-old self nearly fall to her death.

It didn’t help that three tots with questionably devastating power were loose in the forest either.

“…i think they landed nearby.”

"i think you might be right." Axe mused, pointing at the ground ahead, where there were several dragon-like foot prints. "from the looks of it, they checked their surroundin's before breakin' into a run." If the tousled dirt and skids had been any clue.

"FOLLOW THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD!"

Blueberry zoomed off at high speeds, following the tracks into a pile of bushes... and then stopping himself just short of smacking face-first into a massive rock wall. As he took several glances from the ground to the wall, his expression grew more and more confused, before he turned to Axe and gestured at the entire situation. "DO YOU KNOW WHAT THEY DID HERE?"

The big- not tall, but big in comparison to Blueberry- skeleton peered around the area carefully with his large red eyelight, before looking up at the clifftop area above them. "the tracks lead to the wall. they prolly climbed up the wall to get up there. syrup?"

It was a wordless indication for the mutt to go sniffing around up top, but mere minutes after he disappeared behind a tree, he returned beside them. "there's no trace of 'em up there. wherever they went, it's down here."

"WELL THEY COULDN'T HAVE GONE INTO A WALL. DID THEY RUN INTO THE WALL AND TURN AROUND?"

"makes as much sense as anything."

Oh, the irony.

“BUT THERE’S NO OTHER TRACKS BESIDES THESE HERE… RIGHT?” Blueberry looked around in confusion, frowning. “I JUST HAD A THOUGHT TO HOW THIS WHOLE THING IS VERY SIMILAR TO HOW EDGE, RAZZ, AND I MET ROSE FOR THE FIRST TIME… IT WAS IN AN AREA NOT FAR FROM HERE, ACTUALLY.”

Suddenly, a rock clattered to the ground nearby, a neat little message written on it in glowing neon-green letters.

_'FUCK OFF'_

"crude language for a buncha kids," Axe mused.

The words on the rock changed.

_'Smart words for someone with no brain.'_

………………………

“welp, they’re definitely nearby,” Syrup snickered.

“I AM SLIGHTLY DISAPPOINTED, YET THERE ARE OTHER THINGS TO WORRY ABOUT.” Blue sighed, hands on his hips. “WHERE ARE YOU THREE? MAY WE BRING YOU HOME?”

The words changed again, not only the sentence but also the hue to a bright blue.

_’As the Madame has said. Fuck. Off.’_

Then, they returned to their original green color, an amusingly aggressive message written upon it.

_'YOU'LL NEVER TAKE US ALIVE, BITCHES, WE'RE TOO HIGH UP FOR YOU TO REACH WITHOUT FLIGHT!'_

...sneaky, sneaky.

Blueberry seemed heartbroken that the now child of the Anti-Void was reasonably upset enough to curse at them (through writing perhaps, but the sentiment was clear) while Syrup hummed in thought.

“think we should go get the space cadets?” Axe, both amused and impatient as he had come to see the anomaly along with his brother, suggested.

“…..THAT MIGHT BE WISE.”

"hey, wait," Syrup spoke, a bone brow raising slightly as he thought about it. He looked towards the rock, "obviously you're nearby and you can hear us quite clearly. what if we come up with a compromise?"

There was a long pause that followed- long enough that a twelve-year-old Call of Duty player would claim it was his dick size- in which the three skeletons outside waited for a response. It dragged on, and just when they were about to go with their original plan, the rock changed to bright blue text again.

_’I might be persuaded to comply if the one who threw the bone projectile at us is properly punished.’_

Syrup pointed at Axe. "he's right here if you want him."

“meh. whatever. what can three little brats do anyway?”

“you forget yourself, bro.”

Blueberry rightly took a step away from Axe’s general vicinity as a few more rocks clattered around their immediate area, the breeze seeming to shift a bit before Omorose appeared in front of them out of nowhere.

Seemed she was now proficient in teleporting.

Nearby, the rock changed to glow bright green again, and the words _'GO, BEAUTIFUL! RETRIBUTION!'_ appeared upon its face.

...The three skeletons abruptly had an uncomfortable feeling grow inside them.

Omorose stared at the three of them blankly, before she looked to Syrup. She pointed sharply at Axe with a brow raised, a question in her eyes.

Syrup nodded before calmly stepping away from Axe himself. This was bound to be amusing, but he didn’t wish to become collateral either.

In their safe hiding place, Meraki shifted to dragon form and added a pouch-type thing to comfortably carry the sleeping Seriff in. Ah, the perks of being a shapeshifter and a powerhouse.

Ready for what Omorose had planned, the letters on the rock shifted to the picture of a thumbs up, and the dragoness laid in wait for the right moment to come out without being seen.

It happened so fast.

Omorose dropped onto all fours before lunging forward, shifting in mid jump to her newfound dragon form and knocking Axe right onto his non-existent ass.

“WHOA!”

“holy shit.”

Axe, a bit disoriented and confused as to why he was suddenly seeing the evening sky, lifted his head to see a gray dragon that was just a bit bigger than him standing by his blood-stained slippers glaring him down with sharp violet eyes.

Who was baring its’ teeth.

And snarling lowly.

Note to self, never piss off an anomaly.

Especially if you’re a skeleton because Omorose immediately grabbed Axe by the femur with her teeth and started to shake him around like a dog with a stuffed toy. He may or may not have released a girly squeal.

Now who was screaming like a bitch?

Taking this opportunity as it knocked, Meraki leapt down from her hiding spot and stood nearby as Axe was sent flying off into the lily tree, breaking through the relatively fragile stem and sending the overall flower crashing to the ground. Quickly, Blueberry moved to help his fallen alternate and gasped at the sight that met his eyelights when the stem was lifted off of him.

Axe's leg- the one Omorose had been holding- was no longer connected to his body.

"Do you want me to hold onto that for you, beautiful?" Meraki cast an amused glance over the dazed and leg-deprived Axe, and turning to Omorose, she graciously offered to hold onto the now separate leg. Skeletons could handle limb detachment just fine.

Omorose trotted over to Meraki’s side, quite satisfied with her chosen punishment, and dropped the skeletal limb in front of her guardian before plopping down into a seated position at her side.

She looked particularly proud of herself and glanced over at Meraki with a hopeful expression, her tail twitching expectantly.

Taking the skeletal leg in her mouth and swallowing it whole, much to the immense shock of the skeletons watching, Meraki bumped her noggin against Omorose's in a dragon's sign of affection/approval. A smirk was somehow visible upon her scaled features as she regarded the scene before she turned and began to lavish praise upon her charge. "I'm so proud of yoooou! You're a good Dragon, beautiful!"

This went on for some time, and Blueberry turned to Syrup with an expression of great confusion and horror. The FellSwap Papyrus merely gave the other a slow shrug, uncertain how to deal with this situation, and simply turned to make sure Axe didn't start screaming in pain or something. Damage to detached limbs could still be felt, after all, according to the Handplates universe.

The lack of pained screams probably meant that the limb was safe, for now.

"OMOROSE JUST... AND MERAKI JUST... _I need some whiskey for this..._ "

Poor, poor Blueberry.

Seriff, who woke up for realsies this time considering everyone was doing EVERYTHING, popped his head out from the pouch Meraki put him in and waved a hand, "I gotta som in a stash round da house. I'll tell yew whewe ta find one!"

Blueberry simply closed his sockets in defeat, letting his arms hang limp by his side. "I MIGHT AS WELL ACCEPT ALCOHOL FROM A CHILD AT THIS POINT. SURE. DO AS PAPY WOULD SAY AND 'hit me up' WHEN YOU HAVE IT READY."

"Bitch just cuz I'm two in fowm doesn' mean I'm two in mind." Seriff frowned. "Dun fowget befowe now I was tweny and tawer dan yew."

Blueberry merely nodded, and turned to head back to the mansion, the usual pep in his step gone and replaced with the walk of an ordinary person.

The Horrortale Sans, shocked out of his daze by Syrup helping him up, processed what had happened by staring between his missing leg and the two dragons nearby. Slowly... it clicked... and he wondered if this was how the fallen humans of his universe felt before they were-heh- _given the Axe_.  "so wait, how do i get my leg back? is it just... gone forever now?"

Fortunately, after a few murmured whispers with Omorose, Meraki offered up a lovely final punishment for his earlier mistake. "You'll get your leg back when you find the attack you threw and bring it to us."

"are you kiddin' me with this shit!? it's in the middle of the woods somewhere!"

"Then I guess you should start searching sooner rather than later."

Seriff piped in with one final comment, "Get wecked, hoe."

"...i fucking hate this universe."


	11. Chibi-Mayhem

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ulti: LOOK AT WHAT WE'VE DONE.  
> Opti: Sorry it took so long, we were side-tracked by our AUs...

"Okay. Don't panic... but I might've set their house on fire."

Sans began to sweat, staring between the smol Meraki that said this and the house she'd just come out of. The house of Alphys and Undyne. The house they'd just purchased a few weeks ago.

There was a suspicious trail of smoke coming up from the other side, which seemed to give credit to Meraki's claims. Seeing this, the skeleton quickly took a shortcut inside, and the girl called after him, "I said not to panic!"

...then, she turned to Seriff and gave him the signal. Phase one had been completed. Now for phase two.

Seriff responded with a firm nod of his head, before-

_**NYYYYYYYYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!** _

-oh. Welp, he's gone. It'd been at least a week since they'd been turned into children, and Seriff had already figured out that he was much much faster now that he was smaller and more energetic.

And he'd been giving all of them hell with it.

Omorose, having decided to not talk whatsoever due to her inability to pronounce words correctly, was just curled up into a pouty little ball.

That was floating coincidentally. Meraki’s tail was wrapped around her ankle to keep her from floating off. Omorose may have had a child’s body now, but her magic potential stayed the same. Therefore, there was now a lot of magic in a now much smaller container and that container was pretty much bursting at the seams.

As a result, weird random magic shit happened frequently with her around.

"Beautifuloon, are you ready for our part of phase two? The high magic expenditure of what we must do should help you stop floating for a while."

While Seriff did his part, it was up to the girls to keep the skeleton watching them distracted. As said skeleton had shortcuts and speed, this required a good deal of coordination, and they had planned for a large part of these distractions to be magic-based... Hopefully it would help the two Immortals with their high quantities of energy.

The child anomaly simply gave a nod in response, happy to reduce her foul mood in some shape or form. It was just a bonus that it was directed at the skeletons that had been babying her ever since the incident.

"Alright, just like we practiced."

The dragoness lowered the other close enough to touch the ground, placing a hand of her own on the dirt and grass. With a bit of focus, the grass around them began to grow taller, and changed color from green to cyan and orange...

What purpose did this serve, one might ask? Well, as the two poured their energies into the plants, it began to form a maze of magic around the house of the fish and the reptile. It was a maze that Papyrus would be proud of.

If only it wasn't being used against his brother and his friends.

After that, Omorose took to teleporting to random places with Meraki in tow and placed down little wormhole portals that would warp one who ran into them to another random part of the maze, utterly wrecking any sort of progress one might have made to escaping. If there was even an escape route, that is.

Sans was going to be pissed.

With a satisfied smirk, Meraki opened her mouth and breathed out a dense, glittery mist of golden magic, watching afterwards as it flowed over the area. This magic settled within the maze and the portals, the sparkles carrying within them a devious little _suggestion_ for anyone caught within their trap...

_'Don't use magic to escape.'_

Pleased with this, the tiny dragoness began to snicker beneath her breath, and glanced over to Omorose beside her. "Ready to head to the rendezvous point?"

With a quick nod, the little anomaly grasped Meraki’s hand before teleporting off to the rendezvous spot that they had agreed on. She quickly looked around and noticed that Seriff had not yet arrived, but she was sure that would change very soon.

Sure enough, running on all fours with a bag on his back, the little kitten skelie went to skid to a halt... and tripped in the process. Rolling and flailing, he stopped in front of the two girls. He got up, dirt on his clothes and himself, and held up the bag (which somehow was unharmed) triumphantly, "I got it!"

He was so clumsy as a kid it was almost graceful.

But it was mostly cute.

The redheaded dragoness gave two firm thumbs up to the skeleton, as her grin widened.

"So, who are we gonna hit first? Sans is occupied right now, but we've got maybe ten or twenty minutes until he figures out he can just teleport out of the maze."

Omorose raised her hands as if she had an idea, and then pulled out a little notebook and pen, and writing something down before turning it around to show it to them. Her handwriting wasn’t the best, but it was legible at the very least.

_"I vote Honey or Red. They seem to dislike me the most."_

"I vote Wed." Seriff nodded. "His weactions are the bes'."

With a snicker and a nod, Meraki agreed to this idea wholeheartedly, and the three children set off to initiate the most glorious prank war of all time...

* * *

"stars dammit, who tha fuck put this shit in my cereal!?"

It had been nearly a full day since they started the prank war, and things were going _great._

After first dyeing everything Red owned a _slightly_ lighter color than it'd previously been, and then sliding everything just _one inch_ to the left, the three children had gone unrestrained through the mansion.

Honey found his room filled with inappropriately-shaped balloons, and after venturing forth to his bed because he was too lazy to pop them all, received a bucket of ice water from above.

Raspberry was a victim of the good ol' dye-in-the-showerhead prank, and after a soundboard track had been somehow attached to his clothes, he was walking around with blue bones to the music, _'I'm blue, da-ba-dee-da-ba-die.'_

Sans, once he'd gotten home from finally solving the maze, had opened up the fridge to receive an blast of ketchup and baking soda to the face. The expression he had at that point of the day was simply done, done with everything once again... and then he began to think of revenge pranks.

The Lust brothers were victim to the first prank not pulled by the kids--apparently Honey had blamed them for the balloons and ice water. Those two received a floor of glue to make them sticky, and a confetti cannon of glitter to make them sparkle, but this had the unintended effect of giving Lust even more fuel for inappropriate jokes. The prank backfired, and after Meraki gave Lust a few sneaky nudges towards returning the favor, there were more skeletons involved in the war than children.

From that point on, all they had to do was sit back and watch the carnage unfold...

...and now, nearly a day later, they had the pleasure of seeing Red with a bowl of cereal and gummy dicks. The Fell Sans was not a happy camper, and It. Was. _Hilarious._

Poor dear Omorose. So much for keeping the anomaly on the track of good; she was surrounded by absolutely horrible role models of character.

Although… Chaotic Good was still a thing in reach…

Omorose sat curled up beside the now adult babybones and cuddling Seriff, watching Red lose his shit with a completely innocent and oblivious expression… But on the inside, she was experiencing her first evil laugh of life.

They grow up so fast…

Seriff smiled, but gave no indication that he knew what was going on. Instead he gasped, and tugged on the adult Pup's arm. "Wait wait go back, I thought I saw Gabriel Igwesias!"

Meraki glanced up at the TV and shrugged, currently in her dragon form because fuck being in small human form. Twirling between her sharp claws was the still-detached leg of Axe, and occasionally, she would give it a prolonged taste just to make the big skeleton nearby shudder in discomfort.

Axe, warily watching Omorose and Meraki from his seat, rubbed the area of his pelvis where his detached leg would be reattached through his shorts. At this point he just wanted his leg back, but stars damn, that forest was too fuckin' big to locate that attack he'd thrown. Maybe he should try to cut a new deal... It couldn't be healthy for his leg to be detached this long, right?

As Red threw his bowl into the sink and stomped off like a babybones having a temper tantrum, Axe slowly edged closer to the dragoness and the anomaly.

Omorose stared blatantly at Axe, as she had noticed his movement right away, before narrowing her eyes as she realized where his gaze and destination was. She nonchalantly untangled herself from Seriff and attempted to waddle over to her guardian, only to realize that her magic was once again reaching its full capacity and she began to randomly float once again.

She gave an ultimately burdened sigh at this, and just resigned herself to her fate as her magic made her the unwilling star of the funniest scene that was reminiscent of the short from The Incredibles movie called _Jack Jack Attack._

You could hear Seriff giggling as the thought crossed his mind.

Noticing Omorose doing a float, Meraki snickered quietly and held out Axe's leg for her to grab. The Horrortale skeleton just couldn't resist the opportunity to try snagging it, but a quick blast of light in his direction had him retreating, and he tugged on his empty socket with a growl.

"look, kid. the bone in the woods is fuckin' gone forever. can i get my leg back or what?"

Snagging the leg and pulling herself back down to her guardian, Rose used a bit of magic to anchor herself to Meraki’s back for the time being. She frowned at Axe’s attempt to cheat, and wagged her finger at him with a disappointed look. Then, still much too stubborn to talk and wanting to get rid of some excess magic, she formed a few words in the air with a flick of her fingers. _"Have you even attempted to go looking for it?"_

He fell silent.

_"I’m regarding that as a ‘No’."_

“the forest is fuckin’ huge!! even with help, the odds of finding it are extremely small. And,  _without my other leg_ , i can’t exactly move to find it.”

_"Perhaps you’ll actually think before attacking toddlers that are hundreds of feet up in the air next time then."_ Properly chastised, Axe facepalmed with a deep groan and fell to the floor, wondering exactly how his life got to this point. He laid there for a few minutes in silence, seemingly debating something in his head.

“…is there really _nothin’_ else that i could do to get it back?”

Meraki perked up at this, her slitted eyes zeroing in on the collapsed skeleton. Whatever she was thinking, it probably wasn't good...

"Well, how far are you willing to go?"

As someone on the other end of the house screeched in displeasure, another prank befalling them, Axe slowly tilted his head to regard the two children with his single eyelight. The victim of the prank began to yell about how 'dire a mistake it was to cross The Great and Terrible Papyrus', and Axe jabbed a thumb in that direction, a blank expression upon his skull.

"...about as far as that."

Oh no.

"So you're willing to publicly humiliate yourself... I suppose I can find that acceptable. Omorose, what do you think?"

That snark though- had Meraki been taking lessons from Seriff, or was she always this sassy?

Omorose stared down at Axe intensely for quite some time before her face twitched deviously as a thought came to mind. With a flick of her fingers, her next words appeared in the air. _"After becoming a child, Mister Papyrus and Mister Blueberry had me do a weird ritual of sorts… They called it dancing, and it was to a rather juvenile song. They relayed to me that I was ‘cute’ as I did it."_

Everyone in the room stared in deep shock as her usually pleasant and sweet smile shifted to something much more playfully sinister. Most began to slowly back away as a laugh close to a cackle began to emanate from her mouth. It might not have sounded so intimidating coming from a three-year-old… Or maybe it sounded even more intimidating than it should have because of that fact.

Pulling out the phone she had acquired from Meraki, she went to Youtube and pulled up the song before beginning to play it aloud for everyone; The Chicken Dance Song. Her smile was way too wide to be innocent as the words beside her shifted once more. _"I have a certain feeling that it would not have the same effect if, say… someone like yourself did the dance instead."_

Meraki gained magical golden tears of pride and joy in her eyes as she heard the music playing, and saw Axe's skull somehow go pale... Her charge was best charge.

One could hear Seriff quietly whisper in the background, _"I am so proud,_ " to himself.

...Leaving him and Meraki together to 'take care' of Omorose was probably not the best idea the skeletons ever had.

"You can still go get the bone if you like... but like you said, the forest is huge." After recovering, the dragoness leaned in and grinned, her sharp teeth gleaming in the light as she looked Axe up and down. "So which will it be? Running around the woods aimlessly for who knows how long, or opting out and doing the chicken dance right here and now?"

 _"And before you automatically choose the swiftest option to just get it over and done with? Let me provide the stigma."_ Omorose looked to be enjoying herself a bit too much. _"If you fall down, you must start over. You shall not get your leg back unless you manage to go the whole song doing the dance without falling over, aaaaaaand,"_ she borrowed Meraki’s phone and pulled up the video app with a cheeky smile, _"I shall be video-taping the whole thing. Make your choice wisely~!"_

With a seriously contemplative expression, the Sans of Horrortale considered his options... and eventually came to a solid decision. "i'll do the dance," he said, "but because it's being recorded, i'm only doing it in a room where nobody else is around. they'll probably see it on the undernet anyways."

Meraki glanced over at Seriff and Omorose, and shrugged. "Either of you have any counter-demands for this?"

"It would be betta if he wo- we- ugh. _put on_ a chikun suit." Seriff frowned. God, he hated being two, he couldn't pronounce shit.

Omorose shook her head, being okay with Axe’s stipulation, before giving Seriff an empathetic glance. She knew how he felt at this very moment.

Axe scanned the relatively empty room with his single eyelight, and brought himself to a standing position, leaning somewhat against the wall for better balance. He ignored the presence of the adult BabyBlasters, not counting them as potential ridiculers- the Horrortale Sans was more than aware of the actual ages of those before him, unlike his soft-skulled counterparts, thank you.

"well unless you happen to have a chicken suit laying around somewhere, that last bit has gotta go."

Omorose looked at Meraki expectantly; Her guardian seemed to have had the habit of having everything one might need in every situation when it came to embarrassing the shit out of someone.

With a wicked, wicked grin, Meraki reached out with one clawed leg and grasped Axe's clothes, shifting their form into that of a giant chicken suit.

"...dammit."

* * *

The video of Axe’s dancing went viral.

_Throughout the Multiverse._

Got over several _million_ views.

After the utter hilarity that rocked the house upon seeing the video, those in the house congregated in the living room to give Seriff and Meraki purely amused looks.

“so… nice idea ya had there, as a secondary punishment.”

Seriff shook his head, "Wasn' us."

"Nope. Not at all." Meraki smiled, widening her eyes innocently. Several skeptical glances were produced due to this action.

"oh really? if it wasn't you, then who was it?"

Meraki's innocent grin turned absolutely devious, and with an expression of glee and pride, she pointed directly towards Omorose in sync with Seriff.

"...no way."

Omorose sensed gazes locked on her form, and looked up from the toys (connecting magnets and metal ball bearings) she had been fascinated with to see mostly everyone staring at her. She blinked and cocked her head to the side in confusion, the true picture of innocence.

“…FORGIVE ME IF I FIND YOUR STATEMENT DOUBTFUL.” Edge huffed, before turning to face the void-toddler. “ROSE, WERE YOU THE MASTERMIND BEHIND AXE’S LAUGHABLY PATHETIC DANCING VIDEO THAT WAS RECENTLY POSTED ON THE UNDERNET?”

Omorose stared for quite sometime, everyone but her guardians surprised to see a flash of playfully sadistic amusement shoot through her eyes before she simply grinned and went back to playing with her toys with a cheerful tune on her lips.

“…..no. fucking. way."

Papyrus, having been watching this from the doorway, proceeded to gain the most deadpan expression one had seen on him in a long time. "ALRIGHT THEN. OMOROSE, YOU ARE GOING TO BE STAYING WITH ME AND BLUEBERRY FOR THE DAY."

"Wait, what?" Meraki cut in. "Why?"

His deadpan grew deader. It was now the deader pan. "OBVIOUSLY LEAVING HER IN YOUR AND SERIFF'S HANDS ISN'T WORKING OUT. YOU'RE A BAD INFLUENCE."

The dragoness drew herself to her full, 5 year old height, and laid a hand dramatically upon her chest. "How dare. I am... I am _insulted_. I am a perfect role model. I teach her _good_ things."

"YOU TAUGHT HER HOW TO DISPOSE OF A HUMAN BODY WITHOUT GETTING CAUGHT."

Seriff piped in cheerfully, "I tauwt her how to pick wocks!" When several heads turned towards the smol Aussie, he shrugged. "What? We 'ad to get into the music woom somehow."

"...RIGHT. ANYWAYS, CASE IN POINT. YOU TWO ARE BAD INFLUENCES LEADING HER AWAY FROM THE PATH OF GOOD." Nearby, Blueberry nodded in agreement with Papyrus' statement, placing his gloved hands on his hips.

Meraki mimicked his pose, lifting her chin proudly. "I am still insulted. How _dare._ The insult is being felt."

It was at that moment that a skeleton—Ink, to be exact, how he got involved in the prank war was beyond the minds of those present there—ran through the living room and into the kitchen screaming bloody murder, the back of his clothes suspiciously wisping with smoke and the smell of roasted bones following his sudden entrance.

Suspicious glances turned back to Meraki once again.

Meraki enjoyed the scent of smoke in the air for a few moments, before grinning at those staring. "...Okay, I know I'm a dragon, but that was not my doing. Whoever did that used a chemical reactant, likely applying it to his clothes before he put them on or while he was asleep, and then once it was exposed to another chemical..."

She paused, realizing that this didn't make her sound that innocent, but merely shrugged and continued on. "...so yeah, chemical reactions caused that fire. Not natural, not me."

After a few moments, suspicious gazes turned towards Seriff, accepting the explanation of the dragoness.

Seriff looked up towards the others and shrugged, "'Kay, that wa'n me. I had nofin ta do with tha'." He paused, and brought a hand to his mouth, "wew... unwess he foun da t'ing... but I hid dat t'ing good!!"

Slightly skeptical, yet realizing that it was now a valid explanation, gazes turned to Omorose. She gave a soft giggle, but lightly shook her head; She hadn’t officially met Ink just yet, so she had no reason to prank him to begin with.

Blueberry gave a soft sigh of relief (she wasn’t too far gone yet) before moving to pick her up, lightly shushing her as she gave a dismayed sound at being taken away from her toy. “DO NOT WORRY LITTLE ONE, PAPYRUS AND I SHALL TAKE YOU SOMEWHERE FUN. AWAY FROM ALL THE BAD INFLUENCES.”

“LIKE THE PARK MAYBE!”

“MAY I COME AS WELL?” Pluto called from the kitchen.

“…..MMM, YES, YOU ARE PURE ENOUGH TO GO ON THIS ADVENTURE.”

The dismayed sound from the smol Omorose changed Meraki's mood almost instantly, and her mouth flattened. "Seriff, my protective instincts are being triggered. Can we trust them?"

"Mmm.... Wew... dey awe Papywuses. Pwetty twustwofy..." His little eyelights turned towards Honey, "Mos of em..."

Omorose, whom to her credit hadn’t spoken in over a week, pointed at Honey with pure honesty in her gaze. “‘E diswikes me.”

_Got called out by a three year old…_

“APOLOGIES BROTHER, BUT WE SHALL BE LEAVING YOU HERE FOR THIS VENTURE.” Blue replied sympathetically as the lazy gaze pointed towards Omorose at her words hardened a bit… as well as showed a bit of hurt.

Dunno why, because she was technically telling the truth…

“but bro-”

“NO MEANS NO, BROTHER.”

After several moments of consideration, Meraki sauntered over to Blueberry and tugged on his sleeve, indicating that she wanted him to lean down. "YES?"

_**"If she is returned with anything more than a scratch or a bruise, if she is returned with even a single tear in her beautiful eyes, I will destroy you and anyone else responsible for it. I will tear you limb from limb in the tradition of my ancestors, I will feast upon your magic and bones as though they are the finest cuisine, and I will make certain that your last living moments are as painful as physically possible. Understood?"** _

How a five year old could have that much power in their voice was a mystery... a concerning, frightening mystery.

Blueberry took a slow step or two back, Honey's gaze on the two darkening at the movement. "U...understood. She will be in... ahem... SHE WILL BE RETURNED IN PRIME CONDITION, MISS MERAKI. HAVE NO DOUBT ABOUT IT!"

The dragoness was all smiles now, and clasped her hands cutely behind her back. "Thank you Blueberry!" With a kiss to the Swap Sans' gloved hand, she sauntered back over to stand beside Seriff, a cheerful glow to her aura.

Those watching quickly tried to leave that moment behind.

Omorose lightly blew Meraki a kiss in thanks for her overprotectiveness, but scrambled atop of Blueberry’s shoulders and lightly pet the top of his head to ease his fears. She gave a light flick of her fingers, the words she wanted to convey conjured in the air for him to see. _‘It is alright. I trust you with my wellbeing, even though you are sometimes a bit overbearing in regards with my safety.’_

That made him perk right back up.

“AND I SHALL NEVER BETRAY THE BEAUTIFUL HONOR OF GAINING YOUR TRUST BESTOWED UPON ME LITTLE ROSE!! I SHALL CHERISH IT FOREVER!”

“WHAT ABOUT ME?! WHAT ABOUT ME?!” Papyrus asked with bright hope in his eyes, nearly becoming as bright as the sun as she smiled at him, the words shifting to say, _‘You as well, Mister Papyrus. I find you and Mister Blue most agreeable.’_

“EEEEEE~!!”

Seriff giggled under his breath, before waving goodbye to Omorose and the gang taking her away, "twy not to set anyfin on fiwe wose, pepwe don weawy wike it- I SWEAW IM BOUT TA **KMS**." The little skeleton screeched unhappily at his inability to talk. **RAAAAAAAAAAAAH.**

Meraki peered over at Seriff with a deeply contemplative expression... That was not a good thing.

"More time magic. We need to use more time magic. Then we can probably age your vocal chords up until your lisp is gone. If you have them, that is."

That was definitely not a good thing.

If Seriff was about to agree, or not, it was cut off by a large growl from his stomach.

Classy.

_~~~Some Time Later~~~_

It was several hours before Papyrus, Pluto, and Blueberry came back home with a tiny Omorose in tow. All four of them were exhausted, but in good spirits, giggling and joking around as they came through the door. Omorose was hanging from Pluto’s arm and swung lightly as she continued to giggle.

That was good at least.

“hey, welcome back everybody.” Orion called from his place on the couch, standing up and grasping the mini-anomaly in his arms. “d’you guys have fun?”

“TONS OF FUN BROTHER DEAR, LOTS!” Pluto answered cheerfully, but there was something off about him… What was it?

Oh. “bro. why’s rosy wearing your scarf?”

There was a sudden nervousness in his smile. “…SHE GOT COLD!”

As if summoned by her charges reappearance, Meraki darted into the room, snickering beneath her breath as Red chased after her. "get back here ya lil' _brat_ -"

"Nah fam, I gotta turn you down-"

**"i'm not yer family!"**

"Yet!" The dragoness ducked beneath Red's clawed phalanges, and slid to a stop beside Omorose. "Hiya beautiful!"

The Cinnamon Roll Trio noticeably stiffened upon Meraki’s entrance into the room, but the child’s eyes lit up as she spotted her guardian and having been placed down by Orion, turned to give her a hug—unfortunately, Pluto’s scarf was known for being unusually long (even amongst the Papyruses) and so she ended up tripping over the scarf and falling right onto her face in front of Red. The stocky skeleton skidded to a stop and watched her with a conflicted expression before sighing and moving to pick her up.

~~He was a sucker for most kids, shut up.~~

“you okay brat?” She wrinkled her nose from the impact, but nodded.

“T’ank yew.”

“…yeah yeah, whatever…” he muttered, holding her on his hip.

The collision of Omorose and the floor shook so much, that it rattled the nearby bookshelves.... from which something from above hissed unhappily before giving a sad whine.

Red's eyelights lit up to a bright shade of crimson with his irritation, and he pointed forcefully at the top of the bookshelf with his free hand. "so _there_ ya are! geddown from there seriff, i swear-"

"No!" Was the only response Red received, albeit in an upset manner. "dun wanna..."

Whoever thought it was a good idea to put Red in charge of watching Seriff and Meraki obviously hadn't thought it through.

"So, how was your day beautiful? I see you've learned the fine art of stealing articles of clothing and using them yourself."

She blinked in confusion, waving a hand in the air to make words appear once more. _’Tis not stealing if it was given to me in order to cover up my neck, yes?’_

You could almost see the words ‘OH SHIT’ appear in bright red over the Cinnamon Roll Trio’s skulls.

"Hmm... true, true." Meraki decided to toy with them a bit, laughing devilishly in the back of her own mind. "It looks lovely on you. Pluto's scarf, yes? I might have to acquire one myself."

She turned, tugging her charge from Red's hold and taking her over to the couch. The cinnamon rolls breathed a silent sigh of relief, thinking that the slip of the tongue was missed, and therefore forgotten.

But it wasn't.

"Do you mind if I try it on? I wanna see how it looks."

SHIT.

Pluto coughed a bit into his fist before gesturing to Meraki with a bright smile. “I COULD GET ANOTHER ONE OF MY OWN, IF YOU WISH!”

"Oh? Another one? Such a tempting offer... but I'm afraid I must decline." Meraki smirked, reaching forth to remove the scarf from Omorose, and paused at what she saw up on doing so.

The cinnamon roll skeletons immediately held their breath and tried not to burst into tears, hoping that she wouldn't kill them painfully.

"...How interesting." The dragoness lightly traced the marking around her charge's neck, her voice surprisingly even. "Given the stars and bones, and the fact that this was covered up by Pluto's scarf in particular, am I right to presume that this was his doing?"

Ohhhhhh.

Was that the trouble of all of this? Silly Monsters.

Omorose nearly rolled her eyes at how worried they all were, not seeing a big deal about it before she was hit with a stroke of genius, and flicked her hands in the air to show what she was thinking. _‘I just had a thought Madame; This appeared while the four of us were playing a game, Kidnappers and Rescuers.’_ Everyone who looked at her would have probably been astonished by the intelligent, contemplative look in her eyes.

 _‘I was the object to be saved, Mister Blueberry was the ‘Kidnapper’ and Misters Papyrus and Pluto were my ‘Rescuers’. After some time, Mister Pluto managed to get me away from Mister Blue due to an ingenious tactic, and declared himself as a protector of me in jest. I was so taken by the enjoyment that I responded in kind. That is when this,’_ She pointed at the new tattoo that rested around her neck like a choker, _‘appeared. I believe I have a theory, but to be sure…’_

The chili anomaly looked over to Pluto, seeing him afraid yet intrigued, and smiled sweetly. _‘Mister Pluto, could you perhaps rescind your offer of protection?’_

He blinked.

“ER- I SUPPOSE… I SPOKE OUT OF TURN, LITTLE ROSE, AND DO NOT HOLD IT AGAINST ME AS I SAY I AM NO LONGER AN OFFICIAL PROTECTOR OF YOURS.”

_‘I understand.’_ She nodded in turn before her eyes flickered down in satisfaction as the newest mark began to fade from sight, causing all of the Cinnamon Roll Trio to relax. _‘Ah. I was right.’_

"T'bad." Seriff peered down from his perch in the book shelf while rubbing at his eyes. He was obviously grumpy, but unable to sleep because everyone kept _God Damn **TALKING**_.  "S'kinda purty."

 _‘I am making an educated guess when I say tattoos may show up on my person when another verbally claims me as their own in some way, and I give my consent. Perhaps that is why I have dragon wings on my upper back, Madame; you declared yourself as my guardian and though I had not verbally given consent, I did so subconsciously because my form obviously did not wish to perish despite it being a high possibility in a new dimension, and you are obviously strong enough to protect others.’_ Omorose explained, before frowning as those besides her guardians— such as Red, Pluto, Papyrus, Blue, Orion, and any others that may have walked in upon realizing their alternates had returned— stared at her with wide, astonished sockets. _‘…Why do you all stare so? I may be naive, but I am not an idiot.’_

Meraki, pleased at the deductive reasoning of her charge, cast an amused glance around at the lazier skeletons present- excluding Seriff, of course. "Surely you lot aren't ignorant to the intelligence behind the sparkly sockets of your own-heh-innocent brothers. How is this any different?"

When someone finally explained themself, it was in an almost whining tone. Ah, Sans, you poor sod. "she's a literal child to the universes, okay? our bros at least grew up in similar societies, cut us some slack."

Omorose gave a soft giggle, before looking up as Lust knelt down to her level with a question in his eyes. “so… if you agree to someone’s claim to you, that means a mark representing that person shows up on your body?”

_‘So I believe.’_

“that’s… holy shit, that’s amazing.” He would say sexy too, but even Lust had standards; he knew Omorose was technically _physically_ grown, but when she was in her child form, there was no was in hell he would say that. Didn’t sit well with him.  “i wonder what mine would look like… cutie-pie, let me claim you real quick so i can see?”

 _‘While I usually would agree as to sate my curiosity, if I let you, I’m sure some of the others may ask.’_ She pointed out with amusement, gently patting his head as he looked disappointed. _‘If I had my adult form, perhaps, but as a child, I have a finite amount of skin to be marked. I have the idea that it wouldn’t look pleasant.’_

"Plus it wouldn't be a good idea to be accepting everyone's claims over you. Not everyone is as well-meaning a person as I or Seriff." When several affronted or insulted looks were sent her way, Meraki simply shrugged. "Look, I'm not calling out anyone here specifically, but honestly. We don't know what effect the claims have on Beautiful, or whether she can deny them after they've already been accepted. If I know the trickery of those from the Beyond- which I ought to after several centuries of existence- then there's a weakness in there somewhere. And someday, that weakness will be discovered and exploited, and I'd rather it not be found by someone who hasn't proven themself first."

That was a fair enough reason.

“So, is that Seriff’s mark then?” Asriel asked curiously, pointing at Omorose’s tattooed arm. She demurred with a shy smile, and blinked as she felt her cheeks heat; she was blushing.

 _‘We declared each other siblings the night before this… situation,’_ she gestured to the four affected by the age-incident as well as herself, _‘happened.’_ Somehow, that didn’t completely surprise those in attendance.

“what about the mark around your eye then, brat?” Red asked, raising a brow bone. Omorose blinked, reaching up to touch at her left eye, remembering she had an intricate one there. Due to her being smaller, it pretty much encompassed her whole eye and the majority of her cheek.

 _‘I… do not know. I’ve had it before I fell out of the Anti-Void…’_ She frowned deeply before looking over to Meraki. _‘Right Madame?'_

Meraki nodded in confirmation, casually storing away Pluto's constellation-decorated scarf in her phone. It was unlikely that it would ever be seen again.

"Yep! It was there when I first caught ya..." Her cognac eyes narrowed as she considered said mark, and who it could belong to. "...whoever it signifies is on my shitlist for leaving you in the Anti-Void. I'm gonna give them a good piece of my mind when we meet them, and maybe eat them. Probably eat them. It's a highly likely event to occur. Especially if they're an asshole."

"MISS MERAKI, PLEASE WATCH YOUR LANGUAGE!" Aw, Blueberry still had some fight in him... how cute.

The dragoness smirked. "I refuse. But because you asked nicely, I _politely_ refuse."

The Swap Sans sighed in disappointment, wandering off towards the kitchen for some food. "AT LEAST SHE WAS POLITE ABOUT IT," he muttered loudly, passing through the doorway and out of sight.

Something seemed to occur to the tiny void-girl just then… and it was clear the thought disturbed her. As emotions were new to her, she did not know how to hide them just yet. Her lips pressed into a thin displeased line, and she hopped off the couch, ignoring those still watching her until Edge called to her in a demanding, yet slightly more respectful than usual way.

“WHAT BOTHERS YOU ROSE?”

She stopped, not turning to face those watching her, and flicked a quick message in the air. _‘I am not sure how I came to be in the Anti-Void, but this mark signifies someone knew who I am before even I did, as I had been there ever since my memories became reliable, and possibly even before. The thought that there is someone out there that _I_ had trusted, and still somehow trust due the mark still being upon my form despite not knowing them and being forgotten in the Anti-Void… makes me uneasy. It makes my magic uneasy.’_ She twitched, looking down at her hand before clenching it. _‘I shall… be outside, meditating, if someone requires my presence.’_ She relayed, before leaving through the glass doors to go to the backyard.

.........

"Gud job." Seriff yawned, curling up again sleepily on his bookshelf, "10 outta 10."

As the skeletons dispersed to go about their day, some swearing heard as one encountered another prank, those closest to Omorose considered what had been said... It was likely that she would have a few extra eyes on her for the next while, as they sought to protect her.

* * *

"Alright, in review, is this the sign for Yes or No?" G made a motion as though he were knocking on a door, his hand at chest height rather than where if would be if he were actually knocking on a door.

After noticing that Omorose didn't want to speak, the Sans of UnderPatch had decided to teach her a bit of sign language. So far the lessons were going well- she soaked up knowledge like a sponge. It was... almost frightening, how intelligent this anomaly was.

 _‘It is the sign for… Yes.’_ She answered through her magic, focusing intensely on G and his teachings. She truthfully wanted to continue meditating for quite some time (her recent epiphany the other day had placed her on edge) and try to become a bit more in control with it so she could learn herself better; the only reason he had been able to draw her away from her practicing was with the promise of Knowledge.

Which he was giving via teaching her a new language.

"And what number is this?" The skeleton flicked his index finger up in the air twice, his single eyelight focused on the girl's attentive expression before him.

Her brow furrowed as she attempted to remember the number. She knew it was a low one… _‘….Eleven?’_

“That’s right, good job.” She smiled brightly at his praise, watching him chuckle in response before he looked up at the sun. “We’ve been going at this for a good while… Last little test for today alright? Say a sentence for me in sign language. Just sign language.” She pouted and though he grinned, he didn’t budge. The little void-girl huffed, before she let her arms and hands move in slow careful gestures.

**”I am… grateful... for your… existence.”**

G paused, his eyelight contracting as a faint dusting of gold appearing on his zygomatic bones. "Well... thanks kiddo. You're pretty cool too."

Their lesson concluded, the black-clad skeleton made to rise, his light blush remaining even as his eyelight returned to normal. However, he paused, remembering something they'd discussed before the actual teaching began.

"So... d'ya still want that piggyback ride around the mansion I promised ya?" The skeletal fusion was an optimal candidate for such a thing; his height not quite towering like the Papyruses were, and not too short like the Sanses were.

Omorose blinked, remembering the little bribe he made to keep her from meditating, before glancing away in seeming embarrassment. She reached out to him with both arms, muttering softly under her breath. "Y-Yesh pweaz..."

"Well then, up you go!" G scooped up the child, and in one smooth motion, transitioned her over onto his back. His arms hooked neatly beneath her knees, providing a good support, and her own arms were free to cling around his neck as tight as she wanted- skeletons didn't need air to breathe, after all.

"Comfy? Would the lovely lady like a nice beverage for her flight?" He spoke in a teasing tone, his eyelight gleaming with mischief.

Omorose snuggled comfortably against his back, and wrapped her arms around his shoulders before resting her head against the back of his. She deliberated a bit, before pointing to the glass doors. “Juwce…? Ish wummy…” She spoke softly, deeming G trustful enough to be able to speak to in this less than acceptable way.

G let out a hum, "Welp, who am I to deny a girl a drink?" He veered off to the right and went inside the house. He hummed, noticing some of the Papyrus' counterparts watching some type of Mettaton movie in the living room (while Seriff was still trying to sleep, poor guy) as he passed.

Syrup flicked a glance up at G’s entrance from his relaxed slump against the wall and actually double-taked in surprise upon seeing Chibi-Rose on his back. G noticed while the little anomaly was distracted by the prospect of her juice, and while making sure the little girl couldn’t see, stuck his tongue out at Syrup mockingly.

Syrup glared with just a _tiiiiiny_ bit of jealousy, and metaphorical sparks flew between their eyelights.

Rapid footsteps thumped down the stairs and with an excited screech, a blur of orange and pale yellow and black and red whooshed past Syrup and around the table. The small Meraki, carrying a recently cleaned jacket of Red's, snickered with a clearly devious glee.

As Red stormed in soon after, jacketless, G proceeded to retrieve juice for Omorose and settled in to watch.

"alright brat, yer cornered. now hand it over."

Meraki glanced around, and when it became clear that she was indeed cornered, she pouted. "No."

"c'mon, it's just a jacket. just... give it back..."

"No. You didn't say the magic word."

"..." Red took a deep breath, pinching his nasal bone between two phalanges. "a'right. give me the jacket... _please_."

"No."

"fuckin' give it!"

"Nope! Nah! No! I refuse! Your jacket is even comfier than Sans' jacket is!" Meraki dodged sharp fingertips, darting beneath the table with a gleeful giggle.

This called for drastic measures.

"if yer a dragon and ya know it, clap yer hands-"

_CLAP, CLAP!_

The jacket was dropped, and with a gasp, the dragoness dove for it... but Red got to it before her. "i'll take _that_ , and ya can fuck off to steal other shit. now shoo."

...Meraki glanced over to Omorose, the expression on her face not being a particularly happy one.

Omorose sipped from her cup, enjoying the taste of her juice and gently kissed G’s skull in thanks (Syrup’s glare strengthened, G’s look turned smug) before noticing Meraki staring at her with a… pretty displeased expression. She looked over to Red in sympathy, as he _did_ have claim to the article of clothing, but still saw fit to warn him what was probably to come if he wasn’t careful through sign language.

Through waving a hand to get his attention, she signed with one hand four simple words and a slight grimace.

**”That was bad idea.”**

The tiny dragoness moved forward, narrowing her eyes at Red. "Y'know, I don't think you know what it means to defy a Dragon. I'll let you off easy... if you give it back."

"psh," Red scoffed, "no. get yer own jacket."

"..." Her eyes narrowed further, and without further hesitation, the dragoness crouched down.

"tha fuck is that pose? izzat supposed to scare me or some shit? kid, i'm from underfell. a little posturing ain't gonna-"

She shifted into Dragon form, and flipped the table.

" **kid, what the _fuck_ -**"

What had he started?

 **”Warned you.”** Omorose sighed quietly as she signed, before gently nudging G and motioning him to take a step back; this was going to get ugly, and while she was sure she was safe from Mer’s wrath, she didn’t want her willing transportation to become collateral.

Wisely, G complied, backing a safe distance away from the child dragoness as she began to stalk towards the living room. Anything along the way relating to Red was silently knocked over by her tail- more than one picture frame was sent crashing to the floor- and this was only the beginning.

"Excuse me," the child about to throw a tantrum began politely, "but would any of you lot mind pointing me in the direction of Red's valuables?" Her tail slowly edged towards a nearby vase, and much like a cat would, it was sloooooooowly nudged off the edge... and shattered into dozens of pieces.

"...none of ya tell her _anything_ , got it!?"

Apparently, it was Red's order that had them answering her question, and possibly the gentle overturning of another lovely table. More than one of them pointed towards the front door... but it was Classic Sans that spoke up. Brownie points for him. "he's got a bike in the garage. matte black harley davidson with faded white ribcage vinyls and matte crimson rims. can't miss it."

Meraki grinned, and sauntered past the group, knocking over one final wall of picture frames and delicate decorations. The door was right beside a bookshelf- and oh, she was so tempted to knock that over as well...

Too bad for Meraki that Seriff was on top of the shelf, so she couldn't.

Actually speaking of said _Ozzy_ , he didn't look to happy.

When he had first escaped Red's watchful eye and went into the livingroom, it was so nice and quiet in there. It was perfect for sleeping in.... But now, all the Noise, _Noise, **Noise**_! The little babybones whimpered, curling into ball.

He just wanted to _sleep_.

A high pitched noise left his non existent throat, tears welling in the corner of his eye sockets.

But everyone was just being so loud.

Too loud.

And the dam burst.

The sobs started out small, until they grew less quiet and more unhappy as the seconds progressed.

Omorose frowned slightly as something out of the ordinary hit her ears, trying to figure out where the choked sound that no one else had noticed yet was coming from before she looked over to the bookshelf, and spotted Seriff starting to sob. Her eyes widened in panic, and she knocked on G’s skull to get his attention before pointing at Seriff.

“…..Oh shit.” G cursed, before gently putting Omorose down so he could make his way over to comfort Seriff. He only felt a twinge of annoyance upon seeing Syrup quickly taking the opportunity to snatch her up with his magic and placing her in his own lap. “Hey, hey, babybones, it’s okay… What’s the matter, what happened?"

Seriff didn't reply, only scooting further to the wall and wailed. What was wrong? That was the stupidest question ever. He couldn't sleep because everyone was being noisy, he couldn't sleep for long when he could because of nightmares...

Was the whole world just against him getting a FUCKING NAP?

G held Seriff closer, his eyelight glancing around in search of some sort of help. He wasn't good with crying kids, no part of him really was... Where was a Toriel when you needed her?

Someone came to his rescue eventually, with a deep, put-upon sigh that was weighted with the sacrifices they were making... Red was allowing the dragoness to destroy his bike unhindered, in favor of taking the babybones Seriff from G and holding him close. "a'ight there kiddo, i gotcha. whaddya say we go ditchin' these bitches like they're jerry?"

Seriff buried his face into Red's chest, almost quieting completely in the Underfell Sans' arms save for a few whimpers and sniffles. He rubbed his cheek against the soft material of his shirt and snuggled deeper into the adult while soft coos replaced most of the sobs.

Omorose frowned, wanting to help, but not knowing how to. She stood and moved to Red, gently tugging on his jacket to make him look at the strangely serious look on her little face.

She signed to him, **”Please help brother.”**

Red's expression flattened as he took in the curious and surprised looks of the others and saw Omorose' serious gaze. With such a sight before him, he couldn't help but roll his eyelights. "suddenly i'm artemis, goddess of children and teenagers, but whateva'. c'mon ser."

The Fell Sans turned and shuffled off, grumbling beneath his breath as he carried the tiny Seriff upstairs. The kid better appreciate this when he was an adult again... Honestly, he had a reputation to keep up, and bein' a softie for kids wasn't something he wanted getting around on it.

Seriff clutched onto Red's shirt with one hand while the other found its way to his mouth. He sucked a thumb sleepily, whimpering softly still every once in a while. Poor little guy was just tired, and any Sans could agree that it was really had to find a good place to nap around here when even your own room wasn't enough to stop the Papyrus counterparts from bombarding you. Only the most determined Sans equivalents could find a way to sleep through the chaos.

Many had respect for those who could consider the near impossibility of it.

* * *

The little anomaly Omorose watched from her curled up position between the adult Kit and Pup, as other skeletons started piling in the living room. It seemed Sans was calling a meeting, possibly having to do with current situation surrounding her, her caretakers, and the former baby bones. She held onto her sippy cup with both hands (Red seemed to get a mild kick out of the fact she was using it, but she didn’t care as long as she got some juice) and started to drink from it as someone turned the TV on.

Meraki was sprawled out over the back of the couch in her dragon form, her snout resting on the adult Pup's shoulder and her tail curled around the adult Kit's torso. The way she was positioned was quite clearly a protective one, but the way she kept patting the pockets of passing people was more than suspicious, so those entering the room mostly chose to avoid her... which brought them close to Seriff.

Seriff was giggling as he zipped by people, causing wind to blow their respective scarfs or fluffy hoodies (or just the strings). Apparently someone had made the dreadful mistake of giving him Chocolate ~~cough cough Chara cough cough~~ and now he was bouncing, quite literally, off the walls.

...All while taking wallets without anyone noticing.

Meraki _was_ a terrible influence.

The little anomaly giggled as she watched before getting up and waddling over to the bookshelf near the tv, and grabbed an… encyclopedia and struggled to lower it to the ground, before sitting before it and beginning to read. She was sure she’d find some more things to be of value—

“‘ey kiddo, don’t you want something a bit more interestin’ to read?” Honey asked, swiping up the encyclopedia off the floor and (most importantly) away from her. The void-child blinked, before giving him a dissatisfied frown and signing to him.

 **”But that _is_ interesting to read. It has information, and I wish to extend my knowledge of this world.”** She stood, and began reaching out for the book. **”Please return it so I may continue my education.”**

“Wow, your signing is top-notch kiddo.” G said with a slightly proud tone of voice. “You learned fast. Great job.” Omorose smiled brightly at him in return of the praise, all the while reaching for the book that had been snatched from her possession. But instead Honey produced a different book (much thinner than the encyclopedia) and handed it to her. She looked down it in confusion, reading the title.

‘Peek-a-Boo With Fluffy Bunny.’

.........

Her eye twitched just a bit.

 **”Are you mocking me, Honey?”** People nearby blinked in slight surprise; Omorose often insisted on formality unless someone asked her not to on their behalf. The fact that she dropped the ‘Mister’ on Honey’s name purely by herself was a testament on just how much as she was getting tired of Honey’s shit. **”A book such as this is purely for enjoyment; I wish to learn _as well_ as enjoy as I read at this moment. You hindering this tries my patience.”** Her glare probably wasn’t all that impressive, but Honey stiffened anyway due to all the other looks their interaction was gaining.

He wasn’t _intentionally_ trying to be an ass, he was just… worried. The anomaly was learning so fast, her strength was through the roof as it was, and if she ever decided that she had no use or want for those here, and she fully realized that had the _power_ to leave with hardly any trouble, all hell would break loose.

"Eyyyyy... Honey... be a _sweetie_ and give Beautiful the encyclopedia back, would ya? Actively seeking out knowledge beyond what is necessary is a rare tendency to have these days." The dragoness was a particular admirer of beings that still had a thirst for knowledge, as she had seen too many people simply content to live with what was given to them. Searching for more; finding and taking that which would further one's desires; that was something the dragoness appreciated and wouldn't attempt to smother.

"uh..." Honey took with glance around the room, and returned the encyclopedia to Omorose, before backing off to lean against a nearby wall. "sorry."

 **”Thank you.”** She simply signed before jumping up onto the couch in between Kit and Pup again and settling down with her book, ostensibly ignoring everyone else as she began to read.

There was a bit of a tense silence left behind as her mind figuratively left the building.

Nearby, Sans cleared his nonexistent throat in attempt to garner the attention of the others in the room, but the entrance of Edge overruled this action with a grand display of irritation. "ALRIGHT, I KNOW ONE OF YOU IDIOTS IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS. SO I AM GOING TO ASK YOU ONCE, AND ONCE ALONE, TO CONFESS!"

There was a collective pause as those present considered what he could be talking about, and fortunately, he seemed to catch on to this.

"MY WALLETS, YOU ABSOLUTE BUFFOONS, SOMEONE HAS BEEN STEALING MY WALLETS. AND THIS!!! THE THEFT OF MY THIRD WALLET THIS WEEK!!! IS!!! THE!!! LAST!!! STRAW!!!"

Wait... his wallets were being stolen too? Who the fuck-

Seriff, still in the amidst of running, tripped. He rolled for a few minutes before whacking into a wall.

Ouch.

The two yea old whined, rubbing at his nasal bone before looking up innocently at the others. "Wha we tawkin bout?"

"SOMEONE IS STEALING OUR WALLETS-"

"-we can talk about that later. but right now, something serious is happening, and we need to talk about it." Sans snatched up the tv remote before switching it to the news, allowing the Urgent Headline to flash across the screen.

“-This just in! Several hours ago, a strange phenomenon appeared high within the skies above the world. This massive, unidentified object has caught the attention of millions; but none more so than the governments of the world. Scientists are calling it a Gray Hole, due to the several alternating circles of white and black that seemingly lead into oblivion-“

Everyone fell quiet upon seeing a newscaster explain the paradox on a screen before them; you would have been able to heard a pin drop.

The science types in the room twitched slightly at the statements of the reporter, the urge to observe and correct welling up within them, but they managed to distract themselves by whipping out their clipboards and notepads and scratching down notes in time to the report.

"-First spotted in the night sky above the Atlantic Ocean this morning, as the day has gone on, it seems to be anchored to a specific location out in space. It was initially mistaken for the Aurora Borealis, a pattern of lights that appear in the sky of the north pole when solar flares collide with the Earth's magnetic field, but this theory was soon disproven when it was confirmed visible in southern countries as well. NASA has released a statement that they are planning on sending out a drone to observe this phenomenon within the hour, and they invite us to watch as the drone is launched-"

The science types couldn't keep quiet anymore, and burst out in a flurry of information and questions that were answered and countered by he information and questions of the others.

In short, chaos broke out, and the five age-swapped beings were left to listen with wide eyes of shock and curiosity.

"Displays properties of being locked in a specific set of spatial coordinates. Has this been seen in timelines before?" Sci started them off.

Syrup, his sockets wide as he fumbled for something in his pockets, was the one to answer. "no, this is the first time. possibly visible within all concurrent timelines to this one. any of the 'hoppers know anything about it?"

"Nah brah, I've just been here chillin' with mah radical gal Rosey." When did Fresh get there? Nobody knew. But Geno wasn't about to let that stop him from throwing out a theory of his own.

"if it's locked in space, is it being affected by time at all? this could be a symptom of the universes collapsing; hell, this could even be the _cause_. distorted black and white rings..."

He paused, and Giant finished his train of thought. "It is imperative to see what happens to that drone."

“Antee-Voiwd.” Everyone glanced up at the sound of the little voice, seeing Omorose stare unfailingly at the tv screen, not even blinking.

The look made several of them uneasy.

“repeat that rosy?” Syrup murmured. She set her book aside and once again hopped down from her seat, frowning as she waddled to the tv and lightly traced the white rings of the ‘Gray Hole’ before turning to them and signing.

 **”The white rings. They are the Anti-Void.”** She watched as those around her stiffened.

“…how do you know?”

**”You must understand; as you know, I have lived in the Anti-Void for what I believe is over two decades, since before I had the ability of higher thinking. I am a part of it, just as it is a part of me.”** She frowned at their disbelieving stares before her gaze turned introspective, and cupped her hands to her chest. Her immense aura washed over those present as she called her soul forth for those to see.

How odd it was to see an Immortal’s true being- there were three shapes an Immortal’s Soul could take, and Omorose’s took the shape of a four pronged star; almost diamondlike in a way. It glittered with the Gold, Silver, and Bronze of her traits, and most present felt a bit of humility at being faced with so much power in one being.

Then she drew their attention to a white lining around her Soul.

 **”You all believe that I am a being of the Anti-Void— this is true. This white lining you see is its claim on me. After being a part of its dimension for so long, to not somehow make me a part of it is impossible. I know the Anti-Void better than I know myself… therefore, I can tell you with absolute certainty that _that_ ,“** she pointed to the white rings of the Gray Hole once more, **”is indeed the Anti-Void.”**

"Okay, I'll consider you the current expert on the Anti-Void, as Fresh doesn't offer information freely, and neither Ink nor Error are anywhere in this universe at the moment... So." Sci pointed his pen towards the TV, tapping the chewed cap against the distorted black and white rings visible on screen. "If the white rings are indeed of the Anti-Void, then the black rings must belong to the Void. How do we confirm?"

Nearby, G groaned, flopping onto the couch next to the adult Pup with an expression of displeasure. "We need an actual Void expert. I don't know enough about it to say with certainty that those black rings are of the Void, and neither does my bro. Does anyone have Arista's number?"

Nobody spoke up in affirmative, so G sighed and took this as a no. "Okay. What about Charter's number? Maybe a restored Gaster's number? Or one of the Riverpeople's numbers? C'mon, we gotta get some confirmation."

...But nobody came.

With a growl of irritation and more than slight anger, Red raked his sharp phalanges down the nearby wall, dismissing this futile search.

"look, we got tha anti-void confirmed and since we're not already dead, that black stuff has gotta be the void balancing it out. it's safe to assume that, so let's get on to tha next important questions. fer example..." The Fell Sans jabbed a finger towards the screen, where the view had changed to show a satellite rocket being launched; one that had been modified to collect environmental data as a drone would. "...what the fuck is gonna happen when that thing gets close enough to interact with tha grey hole?"

Wanting to help as much as she could, Omorose brought up her own thought on it as she walked back to the couch. **"I remember brother first explaining the Void to me on my arrival. It is essentially Nothing, correct?"** At the nods, she seemed to nod to herself. **"The Anti-Void is the opposite. Everything. So I would guess that it either disappears from existence entirely, or gains the equal chance to show up where ever it possibly can in the Multiverse. This is dependent on which dimension takes it first. With either option, whoever is in charge of that object is going to be terribly surprised when it completely disappears."**

Seriff toddled up to the couch, climbing up with ease considering his cat heritage, and sat down next to his sister. Now curious about what was going on but unable to put much input out. One because he was more into the science of the soul than the science of the timelines, and Two because even with whatever information he had the others would not be able to understand him because of his lisp. He could summon two spectral hands to sign for him but.... Well..

Lets just say he was trying to avoid being reminded of a particular someone.

Omorose reached out for Seriff unconsciously, gently rubbing his back even as she continued to sign with one hand. **"Once it disappears however, will they continue to attempt to do the same thing over and over in order to get information? I remember from my Dictionary that that is the very definition of Insanity."**

"If they can remember that they sent a drone up in the first place, it is likely that they would attempt other things. Remember, objects that are introduced to the Void dimension are erased from our own. Therefore, if the drone is consumed by the Void, the inhabitants of this universe will not be able to recall that it ever existed in the first place." Giant brought up a good point, one that had the skeletons exchanging odd glances.

"well... 'cept for us. cuz the anti-void and void are involved, we should be able to remember the drone, if it does get erased. our exposure to those dimensions through the machines should make it possible." Orion spoke up uneasily for the first time, followed shortly after by his brother.

"AGREED! AND ON MY EXPERT OPINION, IT WOULDN'T BE WISE TO APPROACH THIS PHENOMENON FROM WITHIN THIS UNIVERSE, IF IT WILL CONSUME ANYTHING THAT COMES WITHIN RANGE. IN ZERO GRAVITY, WE DO NOT HAVE THE SAME CONTROL OF MOTION AND VERSATILITY THAT WE HAVE ON SOLID GROUND. WE SHOULD SEARCH THE ANTI-VOID FOR WHERE THIS GREY HOLE IS LOCATED THERE."

Huh. Good point.

"ANYWAYS," Blueberry commented, staring at the visual of the drone being launched, "IT IS NECESSARY TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS TO THE DRONE! THEORIES CANNOT BE PROVEN UNTIL EXPERIMENTS ARE PERFORMED, AND THIS IS THE EXPERIMENT THAT WE'RE BEING GIVEN. WE NEED TO PAY ATTENTION NOW, WHILE WE STILL CAN."

Papyrus nodded sagely, his sockets focused on the screen. "THE HUMANS WOULDN'T TAKE KINDLY TO ONE OF US LAUNCHING SOMETHING INTO SPACE RIGHT NOW. HUMAN-MONSTER RELATIONS ARE STILL BEING NEGOTIATED, AND WE CAN'T AFFORD TO DISTURB THAT, EVEN WITH THE KNOWLEDGE THAT WE HAVE."

Well fuck, when and how did the innocent skeletons get worldly knowledge like this?

...actually, the lazier ones didn't want to know. The answers would probably disturb them anyways.

 **".....And so the Anti-Void and Void balance each other out."** Omorose began to sign, her mind obviously elsewhere. **"I feel the Anti-Void and its state within me. When touched by the Everything, the Nothing becomes Something, and therefore part of the Everything."** She did not seem to pay any of the attention she seemed to gain any mind, continuing to sign her thoughts anyway. **"But the Void is greedy. It hungers; if it could, it would swallow up anything and everything if it had the chance to. That is what it is doing. The Nothing is consuming Everything, and erasing it. It is a never-ending cycle of creation and destruction."**

"Kinda wike Ink and Ewwohs battews. Cept on a warger scawe." Seriff piped up, snuggling further into his sister.

After several moments of angry staring, Red slammed his hand against the end table nearby, the lamp placed on it wobbling haphazardly from the force. "fuck this shit, just fuck literally _everything_ , why the fuck do we always have to deal with this crap?"

Omorose glanced at the lamp, unnoticed by others, before wrapping her arms around Seriff and snuggling into him as well. **”Ink and Error…? They know the Anti-Void? I have only seen Ink in passing, and never met Error…”**

"WELL, THE ANTI-VOID IS AN UNIMAGINABLY LARGE SPACE. INFINITELY LARGER THAN ANY OTHER. THE CHANCES OF RUNNING INTO OTHER PEOPLE ON RANDOM CHANCE ARE ESSENTIALLY NEXT TO NOTHING- YOU NEED TO BE ACTIVELY SEEKING THEM OUT. AND IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO LOOK FOR SOMEONE THAT YOU DON'T KNOW EVEN EXISTS, SO YOU HAD NO REAL CHANCE OF FINDING ANYONE UNLESS THEY FOUND YOU FIRST."

A few of the skeletons glanced uncomfortably at Blueberry as he spoke, recalling the time they'd found a mirror of his in Error's care... it was definitely something they didn't want to repeat.

 **”I must say, I am now curious to meet these two… It would be nice, to know I am not the only one of my… Kind.”** She murmured to herself, frowning just a little before looking up as Fresh tapped her shoulder lightly, smiling at her.

“Silly chibi-chip, I’m a bein’ of the Anti-Void. Makes sense, y’know, cause my super-fly self is void of emotions, you, girlie, are void of knowledge… though you’re kinda workin’ on that, Ink is void of a soul, and Error is void of sanity. Wiggity wiggity weird how all that works out, huh?”

“…THE FACT THAT THIS FASHION FAUX PAS WAS ABLE TO MAKE THAT CONNECTION IRRITATES ME.” Edge huffed, still pissed that his wallets and care to find them were placed on the back burner.

 **”I guess that _does_ make me feel a bit better. I thank you.”** Fresh twitched but gave a little salute in response, before she began to theorize once again. **”That aside, the two dimensions are not supposed to touch— only remain parallel to each other, and encompass the many universes. The fact that they _are_ touching means that something is terribly wrong. Everything and Nothing have to penetrate the Something they surround in order to make contact— which is the Multiverse. If universes are collapsing, like you’ve all said, I would make an educated guess that _that_ is the reason for it.”**

Red took a deep breath at all of this stress, and turned to his bro, an expression of utter inner-death upon his face. "i need a drink, and my wallet was stolen. boss, ya got any spare cash?"

"OBVIOUSLY. ONLY AN IMBECILE WOULDN'T HAVE BACKUP WALLETS." Edge reached into his back pocket, and froze.

"uh... boss?"

"..."

"bro? paps?"

"..........."

As Edge took a deep breath, the skeletons nearby all took a few steps back and watched as he reached into his other back pocket.

"ya sure ya got a backup wallet?" Alas, Red was unaware that he had just set his beloved, temperamental brother off until it was too late.

"MY FOURTH WALLET HAS BEEN STOLEN, SANS. _MY FOURTH. WALLET. THIS. WEEK. **DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW PISSED OFF I AM!?**_ "

Holy shit.

"woah, woah, it's okay boss, ya can get another-" _SLAM!_

The lamp had been broken over Red's skull, and in a shower of beautiful colors and textures, dozens of wallets fell from the shattered lamp base.

...........

..........................

..................

The Fell Sans knelt down and picked up one wallet, one decorated with red leather, black lining, and a bunch of white bones. "...this is my wallet. and it's been here the whole time. heh... heh heh..."

" _ **WHO THE FUCK EVEN DID THIS?**_ "

Alas, nobody knew, except for three small children.

* * *

“ **I cawn’t take dis anymowre!!!** ” Omorose screeched at the top of her lungs, flopping down onto the ground and proceeding to throw the first (and probably biggest) tantrum of her life.

The Cinnamon Roll Trio continued to treat her as though she was a child, Red and Honey kept their sockets on her so often that she never felt like she was alone, Raspberry and Edge was always telling her things were ‘too dangerous’ and steering her away from it, and G and Syrup always seemed to be fawning over her for some. Damn. _Reason._

She was. _Sick. Of. It._

Her magic was reacting most wildly with her tantrum and flipping off the laws of reality as it did so; distorting gravity, making people’s sight skip back in forth through seconds of time, tossing objects back and forth, and making anyone’s head ring a bit uncomfortably with her wails.

Someone had better change her and the rest of the inflicted back, before someone got hurt.

"Giant... have you been noticing what I've been noticing?" Sci cast a concerned gaze to his friend beside him- after taking cover from Omorose's wild magic, of course.

"It seems that the longer those who were affected by my experiment remain in this altered physical state, the more their mental state shifts to reflect it." Giant ducked beneath the rowdy dragoness that was literally bouncing off the walls, her claws leaving little marks and scratches that'd likely set off Lust the next time he came downstairs, and continued his previous statement. "In short, they're actually becoming children."

"...we need to change them back. Today. I don't think we can handle three children this powerful. Seriff's abilities are unknown beyond his incredible speed and the typical magics of Sanses, Omorose seems to be capable of doing... well... _anything_ she sets her mind to, and Meraki is absolutely a threat to our savings if she keeps destroying things in her hyperactivity. At least as adults, they have more control over themselves."

Giant nodded solemnly, and turned to head for the basement, where he'd been working on a cure for the ageswapped beings. "Send them down in a short while, Sci. I should have the various antimagics ready for implementation by then."

Seriff toddled from the kitchen area, drinking from a sippy cup filled with milk with a white dog plushie given to him by Edge so he would stop coming to them in the middle of the night in fear of being alone.

He named it Toby.

Toby was the fucking best.

He looked at the small three year old in the middle of a tantrum, and then at the dragoness who had decided to follow his lead from a few days ago on bouncing literally all over the walls. He absorbed the destruction in great detail, before turning right the fuck back around.

_Fuck that shit; where's Red or Edge? He wanted cuddles dammit._

The mayhem continued for quite sometime until Giant returned from the lab. “It is ready; we should corral those inflicted downstairs now.”

“yeah, and uh…” Sans, having been drawn to the scene from all the noise and having to duck for his life or risk being taken out by an errant lamp, looked over to the commotion and sweat dropped. “seriff’ll probably be easy, but… how do you suggest we get the other two?”

“I felt my spider sense tingling, saying that I would be needed and so I have appeared.” Kit popped in, startling those in attendance. “What seems to be the problem?”

“Rose and Meraki… We need to get them downstairs, but… it’s going to be difficult.”

“Oh, is that all? Hang on, we got this.” Before those around him could ask what he intended to do, he shouted at the top of his nonexistent lungs. “BRO!”

“Yes brother, what is it?” Pup asked politely, also doing a Batman and appearing out of nowhere.

“Get Miss Rose and calm her down, and I’ll get Mer.”

“Roger!”

Sci's eyesockets widened at the sight of the two temporarily-adult Babyblasters going into the sheer mayhem without any protection, yet he couldn't help but keep watching... It was like a car crash; so terrible that he couldn't look away.

And then, with a simple touch to the shoulders of each of the girls, things were instantly calm.

Kit spoke first. "Hey, Giant has things ready for us to get back to normal. You two ready?"

"Ugh, _finally_. Poor Omorose has gotten the shortest end of the wishbone here, being treated like she isn't capable of doing anything, and Seriff's not faring much better, and I've been dealing with the compulsion for movement that young dragons have. Honestly, I left this stage of life behind long ago, I'd like to be lazy again, please." It seemed that the dragoness was ready to return to normal.

It was almost comical, how the whirlwind of magic stemming from Omorose went from as violent as a hurricane to completely nonexistent as Pup touched her shoulder. She practically threw herself into his arms, pouting in a disgruntled manner as he cradled her to himself, beginning to sign herself.

 **”I am most eager to be transformed back to my normal state. It is a good thing I fell into this universe as an adult, and not a child, or I would have been, as many of you would say… 'totally fucked'.”** She gave the deadest of deadpans to those rearing up to remonstrate her for her language before pointing at them in warning. **”If you dare say what I think you’re going to, I swear by the Morning Star I will zap you. I am finished with being treated as if I’m a whey-faced child; I am sure brother is very done with all of your shenanigans as well.”**

The Void-child scowled at all of them, before shouting for Seriff. “Bwothew!! Adul’ tim’!!”

A few moments later, he replied with a simple, "'Kay!!" before coming back into the room with Toby in hand. He went up to Pup and held out his hands to be picked up by the older victim of Giant's blast. Gods, he wanted to go back to normal, being two was highly annoying to him...

Although the added sleep and cuddles had been nice.

Pup shifted Omorose to his left arm so he could pick up and carry Seriff in his right, an amused expression upon his skull. "I wonder, when we're back to normal, if this experience will change the way we're interacted with? I'm eager to find out!"

With that, he strode off after Giant towards the basement, leaving Kit and Meraki to follow soon after.

"..."

Said dragoness gave Kit the best glittery puppy eyes she could, and somehow, someway, got the BB Sans to carry her. "You're _so_ lucky I'm not as lazy as my alternates in adult form."

"Yaaaaaay~"

“thank the stars that this is over…” Sans groaned, joined by Papyrus and Blueberry as they headed down the steps after the inflicted. “any more of this and it would’ve been seriously draining to our bank accounts.”

"Tell me about it. Most of us might be scientists, but our budget isn't limitless!" Sci pouted, adjusting his glasses.

As they passed by a well-dressed skeleton who'd been listening to the conversation, he smirked, and raised a single finger. "Actually-"

"yeah yeah, we know, your universe figured out weird magic science to generate theoretically infinite gold for the ball game, while we had to pay snowball taxes." It seemed that Sans was salty about those taxes for some reason. And at Myles (Evolutiontale Sans) for not having them. Better not ask him why.

In the basement, Giant was preparing five vials of antidote, each carefully labelled for consumption by a specific child or adult. The adult BabyBlasters were given their vials first, and without much further ado, they knocked them back and waited.

Those present observed them curiously, wondering how well it would work.

It was silent as several seconds ticked by, the adult baby bones standing awkwardly as they waited for some sort of sign that the serum was working its (heh) magic.

After about a full minute of just waiting and doubts were beginning to sprout, the two shuddered and with a soft ‘poof’ of smoke, they both fell to the ground, once again children.

“Hey, we’re back to normal!” Kit rejoiced, nearly getting tackled in a hug by Pup in response.

Seeing the babyblasters back to normal, Meraki hummed thoughtfully and threw back her antimagic serum like a shot, tossing the empty vial to Green once this was done. Suddenly, she realized something... and quickly made her clothes larger as she was enveloped in a cloud of smoke.

"The transition from smaller to larger has the potential for wardrobe malfunctions. I recommend you look away from Omorose and Seriff while they're going back to normal."

Seriff hummed, the little skele-kitten stripping out his small clothes without a care. Meraki had a point, so he might as well take off his clothing to keep it from shredding when he grew back before downing his potion. He wasn't really surprised when he changed back to an adult quicker than the other three.

His magic was always more reactive than most.

_POOF!_

"Whelp, that was fun. Let's never do that again." He hummed, scratching at hi chin with his only hand- Wait. He turned down and looked where his right arm was, and now wasn't once more. "Huh... Not gonna lie, sorta saw something like this comin."

Omoroose frowned deeply and jumped high to touch the socket of where his right arm was as her hand glowed with healing magic. Her frown turned slightly belligerent when his arm didn’t reform back… Instead the many ribs he was missing (over half, in fact) reformed quite quickly. But his arm remained missing. She quickly signed her thoughts as she began to remove her clothing as well.

 **”I am displeased with that outcome…”** All skeletons quickly turned around with blushes as she downed her serum after becoming mostly naked, and even quicker than Seriff had, she changed back in a plume of smoke.

Only instead of a poof… It was a mini-explosion.

“Ahhhh, I must say, I prefer this form much more to my younger one!” The now fully woman Void creature trilled, stretching her arms above her head with a pleased yawn… before noticing that there were many less people in the room than there were to begin with. “…It seems many of the observers have disappeared.”

"And it seems that there are only Papyruses remaining. Hello Giant. Hello Pup." Meraki hummed cheerfully, picking up the clothes that Omorose had removed prior to transformation. "Fortunately these two are alright to be semi-nude in front of for a few seconds. Pup has no carnal desires due to being a kid, and Giant is enough of a gentleman to look away while you are re-clothed. Here, try these on."

The dragoness tossed the now-altered clothes to the Void woman, carefully watching their surroundings for any returning Sanses.

Omorose quickly donned her clothing again, readjusting her clothes before lightly tapping Giant shoulder to let him know she was decent. “It feels heavenly to be able to use my mouth properly to speak once more.” She sighed in relief, cheerfully picking Pup as he sprinted towards her and hopped into her arms with a cheerful shout. “My ‘lisps’ were quite annoying.”

"Fun fact; Dragons hatch from their eggs fully capable of speech and movement. I didn't have to deal with the issues of human and monster toddlers stumbling around and babbling nonsense." Meraki seemed happy to be back in her adult form, making odd movements over herself that one might interpret as preening. "I think this is cause for celebration, once the Sanses reappear... wait, why did they vanish anyways? I know why Seriff goes poof when something startling occurs, but why would the others?"

It seemed that Giant had the answer. "It is an interesting quirk we've noticed amongst various universes. Sanses, even the Swap Variants, generally teleport away when startled, while Papyruses lock up in place. Both recover in the same amount of time- that is, a few seconds or more- but Sanses generally take a little while longer to return out of sheer embarrassment. I suspect more than one of the shorter skeletons will be sulking for the rest of the day."

Sharing this information might have been a mistake, judging by the devious look on the Dragon Immortal's face.

This reaction was practically identical on Omorose’s but it went quickly before anyone could spot it. “Come along little Pup, we can find your brother as well as reintegrate ourselves back into the manor’s social status quo since we are back in our original forms.” The little anomaly nuzzled Pup’s face and upon passing Meraki, did the same to her before walking back up the steps as she thanked Giant with a kiss on the cheek.

Giant blushed green, but seemed thoughtful.

“I believe Omorose has gained some mental maturity out of this entire experience?”

The dragoness considered Omorose's demeanor as she walked away with Pup, and eventually nodded. "Yup, I'd say so. She has a long way to go still, buuuuut she's doing good for only a few months in an actual universe."

That said, Meraki left the basement to follow after the Void woman, leaving the thoughtful Giant behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Opti: Next chapter... *Giggles evilly to self, grinning wide.*  
> Ulti: *is cackling diabolically* Oh, it's gonna be _great_.


	12. The Road to Hell is Paved With Good Intentions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Opti: You probably won't believe me but... *Grins widely, with only slight regret.* This whole concept was MY idea.  
> Ulti: *nods solemnly* Shadow and I have done well.

It was a quiet day, much in comparison to the past so many weeks. The old routine had been reestablished, and the Grey Hole was being quietly monitored on the side, and the two guests of the mansion were slowly but surely making their presence a bit more permanent. What could Honey do during this time, but observe and ponder? Little, too little, and therefore he did both more often than he wanted to.

At the moment, Meraki was snoozing on the couch; she was of no threat to him. Omorose had been training with Edge and Razz for several hours herself, and would likely be exhausted when she returned... but the energy he could feel seemed to disagree.

 _'She's getting stronger,'_ he thought, _'or maybe she just has better control.'_ Wasn't that what they wanted, after all? Hadn't they wanted her to learn control over her magic, so she wouldn't be an accidental danger to those around her?

They forgot that such training was a double-edged sword. She wouldn't accidentally harm someone, and she hadn't seemed capable of deliberately harming someone when she arrived, but... well... Let's just say the Swap Papyrus was concerned about the sadistic tendencies she'd demonstrated recently.

Thus, he moved to watch Omorose train with the Fell Variants, and saw something that only worried him more.

A smile of exhilaration was wide on the Void Woman’s face as she wove and danced in between the vast multitude of bones that were flying at her with great speeds, making it seem like she was merely performing an intricate dance she had known her whole life rather than a brutal spar with two seasoned warriors. Silver magic coated her hands as she whirled and spun, the very picture of the Trait that belonged to said color as she summoned bone shaped constructs that also shot towards them.

While skilled, they had also been training with her for so long at this point, and were beginning to slow due to exhaustion… Some of the ‘bones’ made contact with them, but they shattered harmlessly upon impact. It seemed she couldn’t muster any intent to harm. Or maybe she didn’t truly understand what it meant to want to harm. That was good, at the very least.

Razz and Edge didn’t think seem to think the same.

“ENOUGH WITH YOUR STALLING WOMAN! IF YOU WISH TO END A CONFLICT WITH YOUR ENEMY, YOU MUST AT THE VERY LEAST BEAT THEM INTO SUBMISSION!” Razz managed to snarl through his panting, a bone held tightly in his hands like a club. “YOU CAN’T SIMPLY WEAR A PERSON OUT ALL THE TIME!”

“But Mister Papyrus told me that their little companion called Frisk did that for him!” She bantered back as she slid upon her knees to dodge a few projectiles that would have taken her in the stomach and then flipped back up into her running stance.

“IT’S TIME TO CEASE YOUR DAWDLING!” Edge growled in agreement with Razz, casting him a glance and nodding in unison before they both summoned Gaster Blasters, armed and ready to fire at the anomaly.

Her eyes widened and she gave a shriek—Not of fear or even shock, oh no, but of delight as she sprinted from the position they had locked and fired on, and slowly but surely making their way towards them while dodging their lasers.

A high chirrup-y sound left her throat which caused them to stall, giving her ample time to dodge the swing her two opponents had aimed for her and make a sure jump to land on top of one of the Blaster’s head. They froze, allowing her to speak a few more clicks and growl like sounds to them both….

And then they relaxed out of their aggressive positions.

Just like that.

Not even the irate and indignant squawking of the skeletons that owned them bade them to move as Omorose took advantage of the higher position (like they had taught her to) and began sending attacks down below with great velocity.

Honey's sockets widened, the lollipop in his mouth no longer being rolled between his teeth as he froze in place. Implications of what just occurred ran through his mind at high speed, increasing his worries tenfold.

She'd just... completely negated their most powerful attack.

No, not only negated; she was able to communicate with them. She just made the most valuable tools in their collective arsenals capable of _betrayal_.

If they were forced to fight her, it'd need to be with bone attacks alone. True, with the Genocide Runs under their belts for experience, they were quite capable of battling. But only bone and soul attacks? For a prolonged amount of time? None of them had the stamina for that. If they were forced to fight her seriously, they would face this threat, and they would lose.

_At the current rate she was learning at, she'd be able to destroy them all within the month- nay, within the week, if she used a bit of strategy._

But she wouldn't, right? She didn't seem capable of even _thinking_ to harm someone, let alone actually going for to do so. Her sadism was that found within successful pranks, nothing more than playful vindication. Beyond that, she wouldn't actually harm those who were helping her, right?

The Swap Papyrus needed to think about this over some of his honey. He couldn't ACT rashly, no. What was needed here was careful consideration, and not the sort of fearful actions that had led to past regrets and future sorrows. If he was going to ACT on his fears, he needed to be rational about it...

He needed to be very, very careful.

* * *

It had been several hours and an uncountable amount of honey bottles later since Honey had started deliberating on what exactly to do; It was deep into the night at this point, and pretty much everyone was asleep at this point except for himself. He had locked himself in his study (much to Blue’s disgruntlement) and spent the day trying to think of fail-safes.

And he had come up with _jack shit_.

It was becoming frustrating. The only thing he had come up with that might have been something worth while is having the anomaly teach any and all of those capable of using Gaster Blasters what their language was and how to speak it; Surely with the bonds they might have with their weapons, that could negate the possibility of betrayal?

….But that would take time. Several months at the least, and that was time they just didn’t have with the rate that Omorose was growing. And some may not deign it necessary to strengthen bonds with their weapons, leaving weaknesses.

He stewed in silence for a little bit longer before he hit his desk roughly, growling out his annoyance. Reaching under for his stash of honey, he felt confusion as his hand grabbed nothing but air… And with a quick glance underneath he was dismayed to find that he had quite literally drank it all.

“ah fuck…” With a put-out sigh, the skeleton dragged a hand down the bones of his face… He really needed that honey. It was either that or a cigarette, and he was actually making an effort to quit.

Standing, he blipped into the kitchen, and turned on the lowest setting of light he could so he could go digging quietly for his brand of poison. But unfortunately, due to the glance he had made unconsciously to the glass doors of the backyard, he wasn’t about to get it.

There was the source of today’s (and week's pasts) migraine.

Omorose, the anomaly.

He froze in place, seeing her form sitting upon the back porch steps and stare out into the wilderness. He couldn’t see her face from this angle, as her back was facing him, but as usual he could place her usual inquisitive air as she stared up at the sky. The Void-woman even held a notebook in her hands, but he couldn’t see what was written from this distance.

She didn’t seem to notice him in the kitchen, so he quickly hid around the corner as to not change that.

What to do in this situation…? Would he simply stay there and watch her actions? Or perhaps he could have an actual adult conversation with her and try to ease his fears?

She _did_ seem to appreciate straight, blunt talk… Treating her as a child that didn’t know any better only seemed to make things worse.

He was actually leaning towards that idea when his thoughts were interrupted by her telltale giggle… And peeking around the corner, he grew cold as he realized what the source of it was.

_Fresh._

"So after the broseph climbed up the tree, he finally got close to the cat, right? And the cat just hops down all gracefully, leaving the radical dude stuck there! It never needed his help, yo!"

It seemed that Fresh was retelling a story one of the skeletons had told several weeks ago, mimicking the tones and emphases he'd heard as they did so. It was disturbing, how convincingly he could portray the emotions he didn't have... but why was he with Omorose? What did he want with her? And what did she want with him?

“How humorously unfortunate for him.” Rose continued to giggle into her hand, gripping her notebook close to her chest as the mental picture of the story came to mind. “Felines are such independent creatures. They are rather hilarious though. The many ‘cat fail’ videos Mister Myles showed me were most amusing.” Her eyes glittered with entertainment as she nudged him playfully, getting a playful guffaw in return.

“So sweetness, why’re you out here under all of the awesometastic stars instead of in bed, eh?” The woman smiled at the Parasitic creature before turning her eyes upwards to the heavens at their mention.

“I am… Enjoying the… Sights. The scents, the sounds. None of this visually exists in the Anti-Void, and I never even knew what I had been deprived of. I believe I’m experiencing the difference between Existing and… Living. It is… Pleasant.”

Fresh mulled over that answer a bit before nodding. “I can get down with that. I’m kind of the same way, y’know? Gotta dish some sick-nasty pain in order to enjoy my cool life, but I can’t avoid that.”

“Explain, if you please?”

“Well Rosey pal, this fresh body you’re seein’ here isn’t really mine. The overly fancy name for me is called a ‘parasite’.” Fresh’s grin twitched as Omorose watched him curiously, floating next to her in a reclined pose with his hands behind his head. “If I wanna keep bein’ an awesome cool-kid broski, I gotta stick myself to someone else and jack their body for a short bit of time. It’s bunk, but it’s either that or end up as nothin’ but a name.”

“You… You would perish?”

“You got it chica.” A strange expression came to his face then, one that made Honey stiffen. “You salty ‘bout that or somethin’?”

“…If you mean ‘upset’ by your words, then no. You are merely doing what you need to to survive. I cannot begrudge you that.” Omorose replied, tilting her head to the side. “Does it pain your hosts?”

“Only if they struggle. And I don’t wig out or nothin’; once they start to get weak, I leave ‘em alone and go searchin’ for a new host.”

“…It is unfortunate that it causes pain. But you do not do it to be malicious, so I see no reason to scorn you for something you have no control over.”

Fresh’s shades went blank in his surprise, his grin failing for a bit before rising back up once again he relaxed in his position. His voice was a bit quieter than before though. “Well my fine sista… You’d be the first to think that.”

Honey found himself clenching his fists, and stuck them in his hoodie pocket to keep himself from doing anything.

_So this was how Fresh was playing it, huh?_

They'd forgotten about him, or rather, they'd forgotten about the true threat he posed. Sure, there was the whole possession thing, but that was necessary for survival. With some of the universes he'd seen, Honey had no doubt that there were even a few... _volunteers_ , as much as it sickened him to think about it. But beyond that, Fresh had stayed alive for so long out of intelligence. Manipulation.

Omorose was a prime candidate for such a thing. How had Sci put it... _'Misinformation is one of the easiest ways to control the masses. If you control the flow of information, you can make people believe anything you want them to.'_ The anomaly was lacking in information, and with Fresh providing his own, slightly twisted version to her, he was gaining her trust.

He was setting her up to be used, and she wouldn't be able to think around it.

Honey took a silent step further into the shadows, bringing a hand up to rub at his nasal bone. There were so many conflicting emotions in him. Protect her, protect the others; how was he supposed to do either of those things like this? How was he supposed to ACT when he felt like he was... forgetting something?

He couldn't. All he could do was listen, and wait, and think. So that's what he did.

“So then… What’s that notebook I’m spyin’ in your hands? A diary?”

“Remind me to ask you later just what a diary is.” Omorose responded, before shaking her head. “This is a journal that I use to store important information. Such as what the different colors of magic result in, or my thoughts on those around me. Lately, however, I’ve been using it to write about… Emotions.”

“Fo’ sho? Those wacky emotes gatherin’ a lot of yer attention?” At her simple nod, Fresh raised a brow, a lot more curious than his first response could have portrayed. “What’s the dealio wit that?”

“I’m trying to decide whether they have a distinct purpose… And if they are more troublesome than helpful.” She explained with a frown. “These… Emotions… Confuse me. That is the only way I can accurately portray my thoughts. Before falling into this dimension, I realize that I always thought of things in an analytical and logical way. Emotions… _complicate_ things a great deal instead.” She pressed a hand to her head, confoundment rolling off of her in waves.  “I’ve seen many scenarios from the television and in books in which those gain a power that they covet, yet do not understand… And it leads to misery in many ways. In a way, it tells me that you should _understand_ a power before having the privilege to use it. And I realized that I have emotions… But I do not _understand_ them.”

Honey’s interest, if possible, sky-rocketed as she continued.

“These emotions affect my magic… And If I do not understand the emotions, will I ever truly understand my magic? That is the question I’ve been asking myself.” She finished explaining, before shaking her notebook. “So I’ve… Been cataloguing every moment I feel a discernible emotion, and then writing down how that emotion makes my body and magic react. And once I have enough data, I research what those symptoms mean and give them possible labels. It is… a slow process.”

"Interestin'... Seems to me like we have the same problem. I don't understand them whack emotions either. I know what types of outside stimuli can cause 'em, but understandin' 'em? That's a whole 'nother ballgame, sistah. Say..."

Honey's eyelights sharpened as he listened, until they were scarcely visible. His sockets appeared to be empty, and if that parasite said what he thought it was going to, they soon actually _would_ be empty.

"How's about we work on this together? You 'n me got a radical thing going on that the others wouldn't catch if we threw it. Why not tackle it together, yo? I can help you, you can help me, and we can figure this whole mess out," Honey watched as Fresh wrapped a arm around Omorose's shoulders, his expression going blank, "together."

_Don't fall for it, Rose._

Omorose let her head cock to the side as she mused over the idea, kicking her legs lightly. “That sounds… Pleasant actually. I know I could ask the others or read it in a book, but simply being told the answers is much different than actually understanding and ‘feeling’ them. I have no problem accepting this offer. I wish to understand myself better, so this innate power I have does not end up hurting the ones I feel warmly for. Madame, Seriff, and the others… I do owe them my life, seeing as they could have ended my existence while I was still less of a conceivable threat…” She flipped through her pages of the notebook before fully closing it. “In my thoughts, I have yet to find a limit to what I would do for them.”

Fresh seemed extremely pleased that she had agreed, his hand gripping her shoulder a little tighter as he pretended to think. This would probably be easier to accomplish if any ties she had with the others were sorta loose, right? He couldn’t compete with the dragoness or Seriff, and the baby bones were off limits of course, but the others…

“What about being’ thrown back into the Anti-Void?”

He was amused to see her freeze and shudder violently at the thought. “I… Had not of that. I… Suppose if it’s… A decision between Life or Death…”

“And what about dyin’?”

“…I am… Less inclined to adhere to that request now that I know what true _living_ is… It would have to be for a very, _very_ good reason. I am… not sure which scenario is worse to me…”

Unbeknownst to her, Fresh’s grin grew wider.

_Excellent._

"If I could understand emotions, I'd probably be sad to say this, but..." Fresh turned his smile towards a more rueful look, as though he didn't want to hurt the girl's feelings. "...I've been with these chill bros for a while, yeah? I kinda know how they think cuz of it, and with you, they're facing an unknown. People, regardless of species, tend to fear the unknown. And when they fear something, more often than not, they try to eliminate their fears."

He slid a little closer to Omorose, softening his voice as though it would soften the blow of his words. "In this case, that would be eliminating you."

Returning to normal volume, the parasite gave the anomaly's shoulder a comforting squeeze, and continued his train of thought. "So, in order to do peacefully, the softer broskis here would probably release you back into the Anti-Void. Unfortunately, these radical brosephs here think a good deal ahead, and it'd eventually occur to them that if you were free to wander, then you'd still be doing things without their knowledge. You'd still be an unknown, and possibly, an even bigger threat than before... they'd eventually come to the conclusion that the only way to end the threat is to end your life, and that ain't cool, sistah. All these universes, all these people coming to the conclusion that death is the only way to end things... it ain't cool."

In the shadows, listening in, Honey was frozen in place as Fresh concluded his thoughts.

"I don't want a fresh gal like you to go out like that, so I'm warnin' ya now. Ya catch me, homeslice?"

“But I…” The woman sort of curled in on herself, looking down at her notebook with a torn expression. _”I don’t want to die…”_ She whispered, actual terror coursing through her veins.  “Not if… It’s not for a good reason… To simply die just to ease the fears of others… That’s a pathetic way to perish. I could leave now, judging by your explanation, but… They’d eventually find me. And they would probably be most upset if I did so, even if I asked before hand.”

Honey had never heard a more hurt-filled sardonic laugh leave her mouth than at that moment.

“Seems… I was fated to die as soon as I made that portal in the Anti-Void…”

Unseen, Honey took a silent shortcut away, as the conversation between Omorose and Fresh ended.

He missed the way the parasite's borrowed grin widened, now that its subtle manipulation of their eavesdropper was complete.

* * *

 

_ ~One Week Later~ _

* * *

"so, we're all ready, right?" Honey glanced around at the four skeletons before him, slight unease present in his expression as they nodded in acknowledgement. This unease was understandable, given the company he was in...

LustFell. UnderMafia.

He'd called the brothers of these two universes because they hadn't met Omorose yet. They hadn't met her, and therefore, they hadn't been affected by the golden Noble trait's innate charisma she possessed. The LustFell brothers were one of the best options to meet Omorose head on, due to their... personalities... and the UnderMafia brothers would be the backup in case anything went wrong.

It had to be done. Stars, Honey didn't want to _kill_ Omorose, but Fresh had hit the nail on the head. She couldn't be set free in the Anti-Void because she'd still be a threat, and after explaining this to Mafia Sans, he'd gotten the logical conclusion he didn't want to acknowledge.

The Swap Papyrus blamed his hesitation on the golden magic the anomaly possessed, and attempted to solidify his resolve.

"great. let's go."

The five thus set off to enact their carefully-considered plan; Honey making the first move. All he had to do was draw the anomaly out of the others' reach, and everything onwards would be up to LustFell and UnderMafia.

* * *

Omorose had been very morose (ha, get it?) ever since her late night conversation with Fresh. Not openly mind you, but there was something… subdued about her actions as she went about her day. No one had noticed too much of course, only that she seemed a little quieter than normal; but they chalked it up to the fact that Seriff and Meraki had gone out to get Omorose a few necessities and actually left her here by herself.

It would soon become a massive mistake.

“Mister… Honey…?” She murmured out, looking up with a saddened look in her amethyst eyes before they moved to the basket and blanket he had in hand. Everyone seemed to be giving her space as she slipped further into her sullen mood, but she was pleasantly surprised when Honey, out of all people approached her.

"say, rose... i think we got off on the wrong foot. i've been treating you badly, and i wanted to apologize..." Honey held up the basket hanging over his arm, and the blanket folded on top of it. "thought we could have a picnic in one of the clearings nearby. it's a beautiful day outside, after all."

He'd caught the anomaly alone. Now was his chance to lead her to the others... no matter how uneasy he felt about it.

“I… I’d like that. Okay.” She agreed softly, standing up from her seated position on the back porch and reaching out to grasp the hand that was offered to her so he could lead her forward.

She didn’t understand why her stomach was tumbling queasily as she did.

As Honey led Omorose past the training field and into the treeline, he was mostly silent, listening to the sounds of nature around them. The path they walked on was slightly overgrown, and had one not been aware of its existence, it would've been easy to overlook.

..........

.........................

.................

"the birds singing rather softly today. it's almost prettier than their usual volume." The footsteps of the Swap Papyrus were silent, as though he were giving the anomaly the opportunity to hear the birds easier. "the flowers are blooming in muted colors, as well. those in the clearing have the sunlight on them, making the blossoms brighter. you'll see them when we arrive."

Omorose smiled; it was a small one, but still a smile, and breathed in the fresh air deeply. Enjoyment and relish was clear on her face as she watched the beauty and listened to the sounds that floated on past her ears. It was peaceful and quiet, a welcomed change of pace to the hilarious yet hectic one that always happened at the manor.

There was a small voice in the back of her mind that was whimpering with fear and apprehension, but she couldn’t put her finger on as to _why_.

So she ignored it.

“It really is lovely today…”

..........

.........................

.................

As the two entered the clearing, indeed covered in flowers as Honey had promised, the Swap Papyrus paused to set the basket down at the end of the path. This was an odd thing to do- was the basket not required to be in the clearing for them to use it?

The temperature seemed to slowly drop, as Honey moved forward.

"heh, sorry about the weird contemplation thing i've been doing, but i gotta ask you something..." His hands found their places inside his hoodie pocket, and he closed his sockets to enjoy the breeze. "rose, do you hate me?"

“…Hate?” The pure confusion in her voice was enough to make him pause a bit, opening his sockets to look at her. “To hate means to have an intense and passionate dislike for something or someone… I do not dislike you, so no, I do not hate you.”

Honey stood there, stunned, before pushing forward. She nearly took a step back from how intense his voice had suddenly become. “and why don’t you?”

“M-Mister Hon-“ A sharp gasp of surprise left her when he suddenly teleported right in front of her, sticking out a hand to brace it right next to her head, against a tree she had been nearby. She was essentially trapped between him and it now.

“ _T e l l  m e  w h y,  w o m a n._ ”

The little voice in her head was getting louder now.

“I… I-I do not have a reason to… You _h-have_ been rude to me, yes, but… You’ve allowed me under your roof. You’ve let me train and build a bond with your brother. Y-You’ve let me forge my own familial bonds and make my own brother out of Seriff.” She attempted to flash him a smile, but it was nervous and uncertain.  “In my opinion, the pros you’ve given me outweighs the cons… I do not dislike you. You simply make me wary with _your_ dislike is all…”

The Swap Papyrus spent a few moments simply looking at the girl before him, before heaving a sigh of considerable disappointment and stepping back to block the path back to the mansion.

"that makes this harder than it should be, rose... harder, and easier."

As he lit up a cigarette, the four skeletons in cahoots with him appeared in the clearing; two in front of Omorose and two behind. They were skeletons she hadn't met yet, but given the cold and eager expressions on their skulls, it was easy to see that they weren't interested in meeting her anywhere but battle.

"sorry lady, but you're a danger we can't afford to let loose on the multiverse." The Sans of UnderMafia, nicknamed Mafioso by his counterparts, held a gleaming silver pistol aimed at the anomaly's head. On either side of him, the Sans and Papyrus of LustFell leered at her, brandishing bone attacks that were sharp and dripping with some odd, viscous liquid.

"YOU HAVE OUR APOLOGIES, MISS." The solemn tone of finality present in the voice of Sniper, the UnderMafia Papyrus, made it all too clear what this was...

Omorose stood there, silent, unmoving, her eyes roving silently over those standing against her as the whimpering voice in her head suddenly came to the forefront, screaming pitifully like a banshee.

It… came to her. Slowly.

“You’ve brought me here to die.” She spoke dully, her voice hollow as her gaze landed upon Honey after the end of her perusal.

“yes.”

“…Mister Fresh had been correct then… It… Wasn’t possible for me to live a long life in peace. Ever since I had fallen from the Anti-Void, I had been marked for Death.” She continued her eye contact with him, the only thing betraying her true emotions being the tears that were beading and spilling onto her cheeks. “I… Thought I was doing alright. That I could be safe enough to… love.” Omorose was no idiot; with her back against the tree and her hands hidden from sight behind her legs, she twitched her fingers to try and summon her magic.

It didn’t come.

The tattoos on her arm and back started to burn.

The one around her eye just tingled.

As if she hadn’t done anything mildly suspicious and wasn’t dismayed at the negative outcome of it, she glanced down at her feet, spotting some flowers. She bent down to pick a couple, causing many of her would-be killers to shift uneasily as she brought them to eye level.

“White poppies. Symbols for condolence… and eternal sleep. How… _sweet_ of you to get me flowers for my last moments, Mister Honey.”

Honey smiled sadly from his place to the side, taking in the tears dripping down her cheeks. It was difficult for him to speak... but he managed, and his question came out in the even tone of composure.

"are you going to fight it?"

…….

Two black options from her interface appeared to her, giving her a choice.

**[DESTROY] [CREATE]**

She stared down the reason for this current situation. Honey stared back, a glance flicking down at the black screens every once in a while and back to her.

Her eyes fell down to the flowers in her hand. Quite possibly the last thing she would see in her life. She bent to pick some more, and clutched them close to her chest.

Her hand shifted to move over the ***CREATE** button.

Those in front of her relaxed just a smidge.

She couldn’t be sure, but she could've sworn she heard the taller LustFell brother mumble something like _‘it’s no fun when they don’t fight’_ under his breath.

“Even now… I do not wish to hurt you Honey. Nor your companions.”

“…thank you, rose.” Honey sighed, his sockets closing in resignation as the other four began to move in on her. “…if it’s any consolation… i don’t like doing this.”

Her last remaining tears trickled down her cheeks as she closed her eyes as well.

“Neither do I.”

The sudden shouts of surprise and dismay seemed terribly loud in the quite clearing, the only sound heard above them was the soft pinging of hardened flower stems disarming those moving to kill her.

_***Flee** _

Omorose took to the trees.

* * *

"DO UR CHAIN HANG LOW? DO IT WOBBLE TO DA FLOW? DO IT SHINE IN THE LIGHT? IS IT PLATINUM, IS IT GOLD? COULD YA THROW IT ON YOUR SHOULDER? IF YOU HOT, IT MAKE YA COLD! DO UR CHAIN! HANG! LOW!?"

Meraki had come out to have a good time, and boy, was she having one. The store had politely kicked her and Seriff out after they'd purchased what they needed, and as they took a shortcut back to the Mansion to drop off the supplies, the dragoness was singing loud enough that it wouldn't surprise anyone if a Gaster heard her.

No, really, her voice had echoed through the Void in that split second they'd spent passing through it. Awesome, right? The dragoness had impressed even herself.

Those poor Void-dwellers, forced to hear ghetto music.

Fuck the Void-dwellers rather, poor Seriff for having to be right next to her while she sang it.

....

Actually nevermind-He seemed to be humming along with her.

Huh.

Shortcutting in front of the house, Seriff rolled his shoulders. It felt odd not having his jacket around them, but it didn't really go with the plaid shirt. Not to mention after the incident in the kitchen, he was somewhat hesitant to wear it around the house. It was best just to be placed in his bag where it would be kept safe.

"Think we got enough stuff for Rosy?" He asked, looking down at the bags of items Meraki was carrying. She had been quite insistent about carrying _all_ of the them, despite the large number of them.

....What? He was a Prince and she was a Dragon; did you really think they wouldn't spoil the fuck outta her?

Meraki paused in her singing long enough to look over the thirty bags in her grasp- fifteen on each arm- and somehow shrugged despite the weight of them. "I mean, you can never have too much stuff, but she's not really the materialistic type. We probably got too much for her tastes already, buuuut we could probably get away with swinging around another bookstore for some more informative novels."

As the two reached the shared room of the girls, nodding to a few skeletons as they passed by, the bags were placed to the side in a haphazardly organized fashion. It seemed the dragoness had a thing for sorting the loot she'd come by, albeit in an odd, and lazy way.

"Your arm is probably gonna get some use if we do. My upper back feels like it's burning."

 _"For fucks sake ya cunt just give me some of the-_ Wait, you feel that?" Seriff stopped in the middle of exasperated demand to snap his head around, his eye lights searching.

Something... Something didn't feel right.

"I just told you my upper back is burning, so yes, I feel that." The dragoness rolled her eyes, and placed a bag on top of two others, and then another bag on top of that. She seemed to be making a tower.

"Yeah, but now my right arm is burning..."

"Dude, you don't have a right arm anymore. Again." Meraki placed another two bags on top of the fourth, and a seventh bag on top of the fifth and sixth. Her tail slid out to open the window- maybe the breeze would ease the burning a bit?- before returning to coil beneath her tank top.

"That's why I'm concerned." Seriff frowned. "I haven't gotten ghost pains in a while Meraki. Even then, it didn't feel like a burning sensation."

He rubbed at his right shoulder, frowning, "It's strange. How you're getting burned on your upper back while I have it as well in my nonexistent right arm. Kinda reminds me of the placement on Omorose's-" He stopped himself right there, the pieces clicking together in his mind.

The gunshot he heard in the distance only fueled his conclusion.

" _ **Oh, that son of a bitch.**_ "

* * *

_I’m going to die._

Omorose, adrenaline and denied magic pumping harshly through her veins, ducked just as a sharp bone nailed itself in the same exact spot her head had been a split second too late, much to the growing rage of those chasing her. She whimpered outwardly as she hopped from branch to branch with as much speed as she could muster, which was pretty swift.

But without access to her magic it might not be quick enough.

_I’m going to die._

Hot tears poured down her face as she dodge bone and bullet time and time again with mere seconds to spare, angered and hateful shouts following her desperate retreat and not receding one bit.

_I’m going to die…!_

_Brother, Meraki…_

_H-Help me!_

Panic made her breath wild, made her stumble and almost fall occasionally; her pursuers only got that much closer with each little slip up.

_I don’t want to die….!!_

An enraged roar could be heard, the sound approaching with enough force that the trees themselves shook in disturbance. A brief respite was granted to Omorose at this, as her pursuers paused to scan the skies, but soon she was chased yet again.

In a moment of desperation, as their time ran out, Mafioso raised his backup pistol and _fired_.

A sharp scream of absolute agony pierced the air mere seconds after Mafioso had fired one round, and Omorose pitched off her wooden perch of a branch just shy from the backyard, falling to the ground with severe force. She hit the unforgiving ground so hard she _bounced_ , her arms curled tightly over her midsection.

Crimson stained her shirt underneath where her arms were furled and spread rapidly.

She wasn’t dead; no no, any and all wails of pure pain and fear escaping her throat as she rolled to a stop in the training grounds alerted all who were in a mile radius of her injury. It made those who could hear it shudder-- They sounded like the tortured screams of the broiling damned in Hell.

If she didn’t stop panicking, she would soon bleed out from the wound left behind by the bullet that ran right through her stomach.

As Omorose continued to scream, those in the area found themselves shrouded in shadow, and slowly looked up to its source.

There, in full Dragon form, was Meraki. Her cognac eyes blazed with the fire of righteous anger as she took in the sight of those below, and those who gazed back suddenly felt much smaller in the face of her condemnation.

The Papyrus of LustFell, confident in his abilities, rushed forth to challenge the dragoness as she landed. With one forceful snap of her jaws, the skeleton vanished, and his brother screamed in rage and pain.

His pain was delicious, as he too vanished behind her teeth to join his brother.

" _I CAME IN LIKE A WREEEEEEEECKING BAAAAAAAALL~_ "

Honey and the Mafia brothers stared in horror, Mafioso raising his pistol to fire at the true beast before them, his hand shaking slightly. She just _ate_ two of them, and she was singing a shitty _pop_ song about it? They could barely comprehend what sort of demon would do such a thing.

Of course, as Mafioso was also swallowed whole, they hadn't yet realized... _she wasn't alone_.

Wind brushed the tree leaves, the tall logs leaning from the powerful gust that pushed them. The creator of such winds appeared behind Honey, a look so cold and harsh it could have frozen Hell over.

Somewhere in Michigan, Norway, and California, three towns of people shivered at the suddenly cold weather.

One spin, and he roundhouse kicked Honey in the _fucking spine_ with the power of an angry Brother Bear.

With a sickening crack, Honey was sent flying into a nearby tree, and Sniper made a tactical retreat to a farther distance. His specialty was long-ranged combat, and against these two short-ranged experts, he would be at a distinct disadvantage until he acquired some distance.

Omorose coughed out blood, her throat raw and hurting from all the screaming, but the gurgling sound of her choking a bit on her own blood quickly put a stop to the loud vocalizations. She began to hyperventilate, a hand curled over the angry red that was soaking her top, continuing to cough and sob from the pain.

Meraki drew upon the ridiculous reserves of power she had, and breathed, her golden magic settling over Omorose with the strong suggestion of peace... She couldn't heal her charge properly while she was panicked and in pain- attempting to do so would only cause more damage in the long run- therefore she did her best to calm the wounded girl.

Any other skeleton home at that moment came sprinting out with bones aggressively primed and ready at the loud and dangerous noise, but skid to a complete stop at the sight of Omorose bleeding out against the ground, Meraki in her true _gigantic_ form, and an absolutely _pissed_ skeleton looking ready to strike righteous vengeance on those that dared to hurt his family.

Eyelights vanished in utter horror and disgust as the situation and the ramifications of it set in.

_No..._

The Dragon was focused on Omorose, focused on calming the pained anomaly and tending to her wound, so that left Seriff as his primary opponent. A greatsword against a sniper rifle... He would win, if only he could get some distance away from the Sans of Sielutale.

As he reached the treeline, the Papyrus of UnderMafia pulled out his gun and prepared to reach higher ground, and Honey slowly rose to his feet nearby to provide cover. "look, seriff-"

Seriff never let Honey finish his sentence, throwing a hard punch to the his face. " _If you have any sense of self preservation,_ " he breathed out, his judgement eye flickering in and out of existence, " _You and Sniper will stand down._ "

Honey's own eye lit up, a dull shade of orange. He spoke with conviction, with _emotion_ , as he summoned an array of bones to send towards the Aussie before him.

"she's a danger to us all, seriff! she's a threat, and you know it! look at how quickly she's progressed! at the current rate, her control over her magic will render her capable of destruction even error would be impressed by!"

It seemed that he truly believed what he had done was right... but the glow in his eye betrayed him, its dullness telling of the guilt and uncertainty he carried.

Nearby, one of the Sanses skilled in healing magic snuck around to assist with Omorose, his eyelights and hands glowing green.

"A danger?" Seriff's head snapped into a tilt so quickly that one would have thought for a moment that he had snapped his own neck. His judgement eye blinked completely into existence now, the demonic eye seeming to lock onto the other. "Oh no Honey. If we're here to talk about threats..."

Three large Gaster Blasters manifested, dragonlike monstrosities compared to the average Blaster with sharp horns and jagged teeth. One appeared right in front of Sniper's Rifle ~~(HA)~~.  " **...Then maybe you should have looked no further than at what is right in front of you.** "

As they continued to face off, the anomaly was having a right _break down._ “H-He said… H-He wanted to be friends…” Omorose sobbed out, the crying admittedly a lot quieter due to Meraki’s magical coercion, but she was still shaking, and in pain. “H-Honey… _He lied_ … T-They tried to… I-I t-thought I was g-gonna…!”

Myles quietly shushed her as he pulled her _very reluctant_ hands away from her wound and began to heal her as calmly as possible.  “It’s okay hon… Shhhh… It’ll be alright, it’s not your fault.” He was careful not to make any sudden movements with an irritable Dragon staring him down, and glanced over to where Seriff was staring Honey down. He was looking forward to the asskicking that was probably going to transpire. “Your brother’s going to handle it.”

But Omorose, ever merciful, continued to whimper a bit louder at the mere mention of Seriff. She wanted her brother. She wanted to hold him and never let go, she _needed_ the comfort her disoriented and distraught mind could only get from him. She began to sob out his name, getting more and more frantic.  “S-Seriff…!! Big b-brother… W-Where are you…!?"

Seriff's eyelight glanced over at Omorose, the dim glow of vices ~~(if one noticed them)~~ softening at her cries.  "I'm here Rosy. Just give me a few minutes." The eye brightened once more, as his tail unwrapped from his belt and flicked harshly in a whiplike fashion. "I just need to take the trash out. Don't worry... it'll be quite fast."

From his vantage point in the trees, Sniper dove past the Gaster Blaster in his way, and fired at Seriff's arm. The primary weakness of the Aussie was his sole arm, in that it was what he used to control his magic and what he used to wield his greatsword; if the Mafia Papyrus took care of that, Honey would be able to restrain their opponent's lower half, and he'd be free to rescue his brother and their allies from the clutches of the dragoness.

Somehow.

In tandem with his ally's shot, Honey sent his pattern of bones towards the Aussie from multiple directions, his free hand on his aching spine.

Seriff dodged, the bullet only nicking his arm slightly as he zig-zagged through multiple bones. The three Gaster blasters worked in unison to destroy what bones headed towards their master, partner, and creator. Seriff could take care of the rest.

The Aussie drew his sword, the metal hitting the ground with a loud thump before he leaned against it. It seemed too heavy for a young man to wield with only one arm. But one twist of his hand sent it twirling in Sniper's direction, pinning just between the ribs.

He seemed to have a likeness for pinning people down with a large ass Greatsword, didn't he?

"HRRK-" The Mafia Papyrus was pinned to a tree trunk between two branches, his ribcage and the sword weaving through it supporting his entire body. The surprise of it had him nearly drop his gun, but he had caught it last second, and raised it to fire from his pinned position.

This time, he aimed for the tail of his opponent, hoping that the extra limb was more sensitive than the others. It was the last shot he fired, unfortunately for him, as his gun was knocked free from his hands by the sturdy bone attack of an irritated bystander.

Sniper was lucky that he had missed Seriff, or else the enraged brother bear would not be so forgiving on the Mafiatale as he was already being.

Again, Honey summoned and fired a wave of bones; but this time he sent his own Gaster Blasters after those belonging to Seriff. His ally was pinned, and time was likely ticking for those Meraki had consumed... He'd have to use different tactics if he wanted to win.

_Speaking of..._

In the following lull between battle, Meraki sauntered over to the tree that Sniper was pinned in, and delicately plucked the skewered skeleton from the trunk. "Ooh, skeleton-kebab... I wonder if you'll taste as dirty as the others did?"

She didn't wait to find out, bringing the sword up to her mouth and slurping the struggling skeleton down with little effort. "...tastes like spaghetti, and good intentions gone wrong."

Honey glanced at this with a concerned eyelight, and slowly edged away from the dragoness.

"look, we don't have to fight. let me-" he dodged an errant blast from one of Seriff's Blasters- "explain why i attacked rose."

He side stepped a few attacks in a casual manner, like one does when taking a stroll in the park, "Let me think about it for a moment."

2 seconds passed.

_2 seconds._

2 seconds too long, apparently, as the Aussie appeared in front of the Orange hoodied skeleton, grabbing his harshly by the neck bones and holding him high into the air. "Yeah. Nah. I'm good." With that, he threw the Swap Papyrus towards the waiting jaws of the eager dragoness nearby.

She grinned, catching the panicked skeleton between her teeth, and spoke around him. "I'm not a fan of eating other people's leftovers, but Honey, for _you_ , I'll make an exception..."

"no, no, _please-_ "

Seriff thus watched her gobble down the skeleton with gusto, before his eyesockets widened a little in realization. "Wait- with Sniper- did you just eat my fucking sword?"

Meraki snickered, smoke rolling through her nostrils as she did so. "Technically. Yes. Don't worry, I can get it out for ya later. I know how much it means to ya."

Seeing the expression on her friend's face, she reconsidered this, and decided to make 'later' into 'now' by reaching down her throat and pulling out the sword. It was covered in saliva, and a streak of marrow from Sniper's futile struggles. "Ooh, lemme get that for ya." Lick. "Here ya go!"

Those watching were concerned about how often the dragoness ate people and inedible objects, for her to have such control over her insides.

His tail flicked in an agitated manner, his hand rubbing at his forehead. "Oh, for fucks sake Mer, do you have any idea how long that's gonna take to-" His groan was cut off by a whimper from his sister, causing his judgement eye to gaze towards Omorose. It flickered a few times before returning back into his usual purple and white eye lights. "Nevermind... Hold onto it for now. I have something more important to carry at the moment."

With a nod, Meraki casually attempted to clean off the sword on the grass nearby, watching as her bestie went to tend to her charge with a great deal of approval.

Dropping his hand back down to his side, Seriff took long strides towards his sister, kneeling down and brushing a few strands of hair out of her face. "Okay Rosy, I'm here now. I took a little longer than wanted on taking the garbage to the dump, but I'm here."

“She’s gonna be alright… I was able to stop the internal bleeding, and stitch up the deeper damage, but she was too panicked for me to heal any of the cosmetic damage. She’s probably gonna have a scar.” Myles sighed as he helped her sit up, warning her to go slowly as the distraught woman immediately went searching for her brother’s hold.

“S-Seriff… I don’t understand…” As opposed to the loud bawling she had been doing before, she was weeping with silent tears. “I-I thought I was g-getting better… I thought I was safer… I-I never wanted to h-hurt anyone… E-Even when they chased me I-I didn’t attack…”

Seriff gave a nod in Myles' general direction, before pulling Omorose gently into a protective hold. "No no no Rosy, You _are_ getting better." Seriff reassured gently, his voice causing his chest vibrate at the deep tones.  "You are safe. It's just that..." He shifted slightly, sighing a little as he managed to hold her close. "Remember how I mentioned that most Sanses are known as the Judge in their AU? And what that job entails?"

He rolled his shoulders a little, before continuing. "The thing is, most Judges only base on Power and Level. That is what _He_ did."

Oh shit, he's not even using Honey's name. _Fuck._

"That's what Mafioso did as well. And... whatever the fuck Lustfell Sans' nickname was." He looked to the side, not at all sorry he forgot the other's name.

No one liked LustFell anyways.

"It's what most Sanses do." He looked down at her and tilted his head, "But that is not how Sielutale works. That is not how I or Meraki work. You see, in my world, Everyone bases everything on _Intent._ " He rubbed her back gently as he could without jostling her. Gods, he was wishing he hadn't thrown Honey so quickly towards Meraki. He wanted him to **suffer.** "How you gained that level or power matters not to us. Its how you intend to use it. I know you Rosy, you would never want to hurt any innocent being. You want to learn, and grow, and experience. Your intent is pure and whole hearted." He rubbed his cheek against her forehead, "That is what matters Omorose. Not your abilities, or your execution points, but your potential to be good and do good."

“E-Even then… I have no LOVE. I have only power… So why…?” The traumatized anomaly cringed slightly, feeling a deep sort of pain emanating from underneath her eye— the one with the tattoo. “I think… I’m getting a headache… I’m tired…” She whispered, feeling like the utmost pitiful person in the world. “I wanna sleep… P-Please don’t let me go… I d-don’t feel safe anymore..."

"I'll explain better later then." Seriff replied softly, shifting Omorose so he could pick her up more easily. "Rest now little sister. I'm not going anywhere this time." Not like last time. Not again. Not like he had with Papy before-

It was best he cut himself off right there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ulti: OHHHHHHHHHH WE'RE HALFWAY THERE!  
> Opti: OHHHH-OH, KEEP US IN YOUR PRAYERS~!!


	13. And the Way Back is Lined With the Five Stages of Grief

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ulti: *Is dying of laughter* BEHOLD; THE CHAPTER OF OUR GREATEST ANGST YET~  
> Opti: *Is unsure if she wants to cry tears of sorrow or pride from this chapter.* _HOW CAN THIS HAPPEN TO MEEEEE-!_

The sky was turning orange with the oncoming evening.

Usually at the Skeleton Manor, it would be the time of loud noises, as everyone who had jobs had gotten home and the inhabitants tended to converge for dinner, share puns and stories of the day, and generally be merry.

…There was none of that this night.

Silence reigned supreme this day. Everyone was still loitering outside, attempting to come to terms with what just happened.

Five skeletons had been eaten whole.

Omorose was nearly murdered, and was clearly traumatized. She hadn’t managed to sleep (due to frightening images that would come forth every time she closed her eyes) and flinched with fear anytime she saw a Papyrus. The only reason she was outside, and around others, was because Meraki couldn’t shift back into her human form with five skeletons in her stomach without serious repercussions. And Omorose wasn’t about to go without the only two people she was sure she could trust, despite not letting go of Seriff _once_.

Seriff was withdrawn, his expression blank with only the blackest of rage flickering over his face from time to time, and he also wasn’t about to let go of the one he nearly lost.

The population of the manor sat around these three _(at a safe distance, mind you, an irate dragon and Judge staring you down with ‘Bitch, try me’ faces was quite the motivator to give people space)_ , silent, not wanting to startle the twitchy anomaly and trying to wrap their minds around the entire concept.

The one other aspect that was clearly making everyone uneasy, was Blue.

He was silent. Still as he sat away from everyone else. The only movement that could be seen from him was the utterly _remorseful_ glances he casted Omorose every now and then. But he did nothing else.

It was terrifying.

In the midst of the silence that had settled over them all, Edge stood up and went inside the manor; Raspberry, G, Pluto, and Myles soon joining him. Nobody was quite certain what was being done, until two of the three Sanses returned with some food.

They'd noticed the anomaly's newfound aversion to Papyruses, and found a way the taller skeletons could still help.

Raspberry stayed away from Omorose, the visual similarities between himself and the LustFell skeletons in the back of his mind as he brought a few dishes to the skeletons who lived in the Mansion. As he came across Lust and Flush in the back, he gave them a nod of understanding as he went back towards the mansion. It seemed that they were thinking similarly to himself.

G, the other Sans that had returned outside with a platter of food, was in relatively good standings with the anomaly... but one look at Seriff and Meraki indicated that he wouldn't be allowed close any time soon. Therefore, he brought the dishes he had to the skeletons closer to the three, and settled in to wait.

"...we need to talk about this."

There it was. The silence had been broken, an uncomfortable Sans being the culprit, and many gazes settled upon him in the following pause. As Myles came out with a tray of galaxy themed desserts- courtesy of Pluto- and hesitantly approached the anomaly he'd healed, Sans spoke again.

"what... what even happened? most of us only arrived for the end parts, what happened before that?"

"Honey decided to take matters into his own hands," Seriff replied in a low voice, polishing his blade clean from the remnants of saliva. "And decided to kill Omorose without a just cause."

He had definitely been more quiet than he usually was. No smart quips or dry remarks, just a distant and indifferent tone... like when he had first arrived at the Manor.

Sockets widened, ultimately concerned and angered murmurs filtering throughout those sitting on the grass, food not yet being touched. Omorose watched with exhausted, bloodshot, and wary eyes as Myles slowly approached her curled up form wedged in between her two protectors, being mindful of the Judge and Dragon glaring him down in warning.

“Hey hon…” He murmured to her as softly and sweetly as he possibly could, wanting to keep her as calm as she could be at that moment. He carefully held out the tray he held to her. “You hungry or anything…? Want something sweet to calm your nerves…?”

She shook her head in the negative, her tumultuous stomach lurching at the idea of food. She hesitated slightly before trailing her shaking fingers down her throat, the hand sign for **‘thirsty’**. She was given a sad smile of understanding in return, before moving to go procure a drink for her.

"I'M SO DISAPPOINTED IN HIM... JUST... WHY WOULD HE DO THAT? IT'S PRACTICALLY THE EXACT FUCKING _OPPOSITE_ OF WHAT A JUDGE IS SUPPOSED TO DO!"

Nobody was even surprised, at this point, at the swearing of the Classic Papyrus. The poor guy's expression was nothing short of upset and confused, as the words he'd finally found spilled forth.

"JUDGES ARE SUPPOSED TO BE IMPARTIAL! THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO WAIT FOR _ALL_ THE INFORMATION BEFORE TAKING ACTION! HE WAS WORRIED FOR US, BUT HE SHOULDN'T HAVE TAKEN IT ALL ON HIMSELF TO ACT THIS WAY! HE SHOULDN'T HAVE ACTED SO... SO _RASHLY_!"

He paused, appearing miserable as he cut himself off with one final question. "WHY DID THE OTHERS EVEN HELP HIM?"

"If I had to guess? He didn't tell the others about Omorose's personality, nor what she was like in fear they would not go through with it. A need to know basis. She was powerful, and he deemed her a threat. That was all they needed to know if you asked him."

Omorose cringed at Papyrus' loud voice, but brought up her hands to sign a response; her voice was not in very good condition, due to her aching throat. She didn't have enough confidence to speak anyway.

Her hands trembled, which made her words slightly hard to understand, but people could catch the general gist of it. **"He led me out into the woods, with the idea of a picnic... He said he was sorry for his rudeness and wanted to make it up to me... I was idiotic enough to follow, and was led into a trap."** It was obvious that talking about the traumatic experience mere _hours_ after its occurrence wasn't helping, but explaining how things went down was of help. **"He asked me if I hated him... And I said no. He said it would make what had happened next harder, as well as easier... I do not know why. That is when his allies appeared."**

The woman suddenly closed her eyes and shivered, remembering the cold gazes of all and violating stares of two in the field that had nearly become her deathbed. **"I did not know any of them... I'm sure he believed that people with no ties to me in anyway were best to help him... But somehow, someway, they blocked my use of magic and rendered me unable to defend myself in that way. Though I have trained physically with Lieutenant Raspberry and Captain Edge,"** here she glanced up from her lap, seemingly looking for the two, and seeming saddened when she realized they were not amongst the skeletons sitting before her, **"most of my power is magical. They rendered me at a distinct disadvantage, and I would have... perished... if I had stayed and fought against the five of them by myself. So I fled."**

"Speaking of Honey's allies..." Seriff's half-lidded eyelights turned to his best friend, "Could you at least let the Mafia brothers out? In their defense Honey had most likely not told them the full truth; a problem most Sanses and Sans Counterparts seem to make a habit of."

Meraki tilted her head to the side in consideration, eyes glancing up at the sky as though she were checking something... "I _could_ , but do I _want_ to? I mean, two of them are already dead. Removing the next in line would be a hassle."

Unease began to spread once again through those watching, but before they could consider this brief excuse further, the Feraltale brothers approached. Spike chattered and clicked a bit at Meraki, and with a raised eyebrow of inquiry, she began to hiss and click back. The two seemed to have a conversation unknown to the others, except for Fuzz and possibly Omorose; the former occasionally piped in with support for his brother, and the latter seemed to be listening with understanding rather than confusion.

"Tsk, I want them to fear for their lives a little longer." At this statement from the dragoness, Fuzz huffed in amusement and rolled his eyelights. Spike was less amused, but understanding, and chirped forth an offer she couldn't refuse. "...Alright. I can roll with that."

With her acquiescence, the two beastly skelebros moved to the side of Omorose, acting with protective Intent as Meraki stood and sauntered forth to the center of the training field. All eyes on her, the dragoness seemed to relish in the attention for a moment, before seeming to work her mouth a little... and then, without much better treatment than food of horrid taste, she spat forth a Mafioso covered in saliva and lacking his hat.

"fghk..." The skeleton choked slightly as he scrambled to lift himself from the dirt, coughing a few times before turning to glare at the dragoness. His expression was an interesting mixture of fear and anger as he regarded her, unsteady on his feet from lack of use... How amusing. "n-now, release my brother."

That was rather rude. Now Meraki wanted to cooperate even less- and it showed, with her cheeky grin. "You didn't say the magic word."

With a deadpan that could Rival Wednesday Addams herself, Seriff spoke up for the third time that day, " _Now_."

The dragoness rolled her eyes with good-nature, and promptly spat out a screaming Sniper, this skeleton lacking his jacket and shoes. "Ah, Ser, you're lucky I like you."

"I know."

Well, now that the two brothers of UnderMafia had been released, they were free to be interrogated by the other skeletons around them... which, they were now noticing, if the slow tensing of their bodies indicated anything.

Omorose whimpered with terror as she saw two of those who wished to end her life, wanting the large comforting warmth of Meraki but figuring Spike's and Fuzz's were a pretty close third- Seriff contended with Meraki in that regard and therefore there was no second place. Spike seemed to be exempt from her aversion to Papyruses, seeing as he didn't have too many similarities to one with his beastly form, and many of her Papyrus-like friends seemed extremely envious of this fact.

She noticed, and felt guilt.

_'Fear is what caused this whole situation... I should not fear them all just because they look similar to the ones that made an attempt on my life.'_

_'Fear is what drove Honey. Fear makes people do many horrific things...'_

She had not the courage to approach them yet (not with her would-be killers in sight) but she flashed them a wobbly smile of unease, yet understanding as Myles carefully approached to give her a glass of orange juice.

Such was the Grace of Omorose, the Void-Immortal.

Omorose practically chugged down the orange juice with relish, the citric acid stinging her raw throat; but it was a good kind of pain and she could feel her magic attempting to repair the damage, albeit sluggishly. Some unconscious part of her told her that being seated in front of these two was not a good idea, no matter how many allies stood between her and them.

Seriff said nothing to the pair of skeletons, instead continuing to polish his blade. Although his movements were certainly more aggressive. One could only imagine what he would do when Honey came out.

... _If_ Honey came out.

Sans got up from his seat and approached the two—Soon being flanked by Edge and Raspberry. These two were ultimately pissed that they had taken their sockets off of Omorose for the day with the belief that she would be alright by herself. After all, _they_ were the ones that trained her regularly now.

That assumption had nearly cost her life. And had cost her all of her security.

It pained them to see her flinch away with fear when they had all but _looked_ at her, simply because of their similarities to their attackers—They commended her attempt to overrule her well-founded fear, but they weren’t blind. Edge, Razz, Lust, and Flush were all looked at with extreme amounts of caution, but Syrup had it the worst; After all, he was similar in looks to both LustFell, _and_ Honey.

Syrup would get his payment for this transgression in marrow if Honey was released, make no mistake.

Razz and Edge glared Mafioso and Sniper down with the thinly restrained want for vengeance in their eyesights; Sans had no true emotional ties to Omorose due to his wariness of her, but he couldn’t help but feel sorry for just how distraught she now was.

After all, he could’ve been Honey in this situation. He could’ve been the cause of this himself.

“…pretty sure the only reason you two have been allowed to live is because we need answers.” Sans spoke, this thought causing his tone to grow cold and ill-humored. “if ya want to keep it that way, i suggest you start talkin’.”

The two mafia members stiffened at the clear threat, their gazes sweeping back and forth over those that had converged for this event… They were both surprised, and _not_ , to find no friendly gazes from those in attendance.

They had never faced such odds before, and knew there was no chance of a retreat happening.

…It was best to come clean.

“we were recruited by honey, to eliminate a threat to the multiverse.” Mafioso almost tried to search for said ‘threat’ with his gaze but dared not with Edge and Raspberry staring him down. “he said that it could quite possibly end everything we’ve ever known with just an errant thought if allowed to live.”

“ _SHE_ IS NOT AN _IT_ , YOU LOWLIFE.” Raspberry hissed with quiet rage, hands twitching to rip out a spine.

"Spaghetti and good intentions," Meraki murmured, peering over the quiet Papyrus of UnderMafia. "I say we let _that one_ live... with the consequences."

Sans raised a bonebrow, his grin cold as he looked between Sniper and Mafioso. "what about the other one?"

"Chow ti-" The dragoness was cut off by a sad whistle from Spike, and she promptly stuck out her tongue at the Feraltale Papyrus. "I wanna eat him again. The gunpowder on his clothes gave him an interesting flavor. And he was next in line, anyways."

Fuzz huffed in amusement, before making a few clicks to put in his opinion. Whatever he said caused Spike to gasp, and Meraki to begin snickering quietly. "True... Psychological torture _is_ fun..."

"PLEASE, REFRAIN FROM GETTING AHEAD OF YOURSELVES! WE HAVEN'T EVEN FINISHED QUESTIONING THEM!" Ah, Papyrus was right. Perhaps the dragoness was a bit too excited- it'd been a good few years since she'd actually eaten people, after all- and consuming these wrongdoers had given her quite the energy boost.

"a'right," Red cut in, shuffling up to stand beside Edge. His red eyelights focused on Sniper as he asked the next question. "so honey told ya she was a threat. did he also tell ya that she's one of the sweetest, most innocent creatures in existence?"

The Mafia Papyrus looked to his brother, then back to Red, and shrugged. "I DIDN'T SPEAK WITH HONEY UNTIL AFTER WE AGREED TO HELP AND ARRIVED HERE. MY BROTHER WAS THE ONE WHO RECEIVED THE CALL."

As gazes turned to Mafioso, he seemed to stiffen slightly, and peered back to the general area where Honey was still located. He didn't meet the Dragon's gaze. "...no, he didn't tell us that. he told us she-" he was careful not to call Omorose an it again- "was likely linked to the imbalance between the universes, that she was powerful enough to destroy anything in her path, and that she apparently had uh, 'emotional problems' like fresh..."

Handing her finished glass to Myles, Omorose forced herself to stand, legs weak and the residual pain in her stomach nearly causing her to buckle again; but she refused to bow to her protesting muscles. Spike and Fuzz growled in disapproval, and Myles began to panic about how she was trying to move, but she hissed irritably at the three of them, her eyes flashing with warning.

She was afraid, yes… But _anger_ was quickly taking over.

They fell silent as she tottered forward, advancing closer to Meraki.

Blue, finally showing signs of life after several hours, stood and briskly jogged over to the Void-Woman, bracing her wobbly movements with his own strong form without showing acknowledgement to anyone else. “I’ve got you, do not worry.”

Despite her stubbornness, she gripped his hand when he offered, leaning into his weight with a sigh. Her blank gaze moved to connect with his own; His sockets were black, not even holding the light blue circles she hadn’t even realized she cherished, and his expression was blank.

But it was telling.

They seemed to share a silent conversation, one that others simultaneously worried and wondered about, before Blue wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her into a hug while being mindful of her hurting stomach. It seemed she welcomed the contact, wrapping her arms around him in return, while tears trailed down her face.

Her eyes closed in resignation.

“Meraki.” She spoke, her voice raspy and hollow. “Please release Honey.”

"..." Meraki carefully considered the request of her charge, narrowing her eyes as she lowered her head to look Omorose in the face. The Mafia brothers stiffened at the close proximity of her mouth to them, but they were ignored, in favor of peering between the Void-Immortal and the Blueberry beside her. "...I'm not sure that's a good idea."

For the second time in hours, the Sans of UnderSwap spoke, so Omorose didn't have to. "Please. Release my brother."

Several moments passed before the dragoness nodded, somewhat serious for once. With even less dignity than the Mafia brothers had gotten, Honey was spat forth into the dirt beside them, lacking his pants.

...he seemed to be unresponsive. Had he really fallen asleep in there? Fucking _really_? Meraki was almost impressed.

After waiting for several skeletons to converge around Omorose protectively and making sure he was stable, Blueberry took off towards his fallen brother and began trying to rouse him with desperation in his movements; apparently he had passed out from fear.

_How dignified._

“…Why, Rose?” The Void-Woman turned her head after lightly nuzzling it against Meraki’s snout in thanks, spotting G being the closest to her, and the one asking the question. His face was conflicted, angered, and concerned. “Why let him live? Why… Show MERCY?”

She stared at him for quite some time in silence, deliberating on the question before releasing a large sigh.

“Because it is the _right_ thing to do. And I do not wish death on him for what he has done… He feared me, and my potential to hurt people he cares about and the world he lives in, and that is what drove him to make an attempt on my life. Had it been about two months earlier when I first arrived, I would have accepted this logic and my fate.” Her voice failed and skipped in several places, but still seemed strong and purposeful despite that. It gained her many stares.  “But that time is no longer relevant… It was a time before I knew the joys of nature, learning, _feeling_. It was a time before I knew the bonds of friendship, family, and love. So I could not accept my death so simply any longer. He did not attempt to kill me with malicious intent— those who did are now dead, and contributing to Meraki’s energy levels. I do not feel guilt for their extinction… But I would feel guilt for his. He has loved ones that would mourn his death. If I allowed him to die, would I truly be any better than him?”

Omorose’s sharp gaze landed upon the mafia members, who stared back with shock, nervousness, and perhaps some guilt. “As for my ‘emotional problems’… I _do_ have emotions. I simply do not understand them. My emotions affect my magic, which has been unrestrained and untrained for the two decades or so that I was trapped in the Anti-Void. In fact, it is a wonder you found a way to keep me from using it, but that can be discussed later.” There was Grace in the anomaly’s hunched stance, pride in her tortured eyes, and strength in her pained movements. She refused to bow to her fear, or her anger.  “You accepted an offer to kill me just because my existence is ‘dangerous’. Just because I am who I am. You deemed me unworthy of _life_ just because I am simply being. I did not _choose_ to exist, you fools, nor did I choose to have this much power singing through my veins and powering my Immortal Soul. But I am here, in spite of that, and since I am, I _shall **live**_. I do not only exist for myself, but for _them._ “ Her arm swept out in a gesture that encompassed all in attendance who stared in awe of what they had believed to be a naive woman-child. “And if the day comes where I have to give my life in order for them to live, it will be by _my_ choice, not _yours_ or  _anyone else's_.“

There was a moment of thoughtful silence following this speech, one that lasted for several moments before being interrupted by the groan of a rousing Honey. "five more minutes, bro," he muttered, clearly under the illusion that he was in his bed.

This illusion was shattered by Meraki, who leaned over and roaring directly into his nonexistent ears.

Now he was wide awake, his magic flaring in a way similar to a human's adrenaline. It took a few moments for him to become properly aware of his surroundings, but as he realized the audience he had, his flared magic began to settle. Resignation overtook his features, and as the dragoness withdrew to her previous position, no small measure of relief was felt by him.

...his bones rattled slightly.

Omorose took several deep breaths upon realizing Honey was now up, her magic now being pumped through her veins as a unconscious precautionary measure. G gently pulled her into his embrace, his single eyelight pinned to Honey as Fuzz and Spike strode forward to stand guard and calm the anomaly’s nerves.

“Thank Delta…” Blueberry practically whimpered with relief as he shuffled closer to his brother, his sockets hidden from view as he trembled in place. “Brother… Are you alright…?”

“….yeah… y-yeah, i’m… i-i could be worse…”

“Good.”

**_Crack!!!_ **

Sockets widened and jaws dropped as everyone in attendance witnessed Blueberry snap back his right arm and land one hell of a punch right in Honey’s jaw. Honey’s skull snapped back from the sheer force of it, obviously taken by surprise by the sudden hit.

_**”mind explaining what the f u c k you were thinking, p a p y r u s?!”** _

Oh god. Blueberry spoke in all lowercase. And used his boss voice.

Honey was in _deep shit_.

“who knew lil’ boy blue had one hell of a right hook…?” Red muttered in shock, blinking owlishly.

"forget the right hook, who knew he had a _boss voice_?"

All of the Papyrus equivalents peered over at the Outertale Sans that said this, expressions of amusement and pity on their faces, but said nothing. They would leave him and his more ignorant counterparts in the dark for some time longer- it wasn't the right time to destroy their illusions of knowing everything. Honey hadn't quite been dealt with yet.

Speaking of, the Swap Papyrus was looking rather nervous. He was even stuttering, as he spoke.

"bro, c-calm down please... okay... so you know how rose has been progressing?"

Blue waved a gloved hand for him to continue, eyelights still extinguished.

"i watched. i saw her rapid increase in power and knowledge. i did the c-calculations, and the other night, i overheard a c-conversation she was having with fresh... he was setting her up for manipulation, and for _SOME REASON_ she TRUSTS him, so i thought some more on what to do and i k-kept reaching the c-conclusion that she had to die before she c-could hurt US."

His voice was getting louder with his emotions; something characteristic of the Swap-Variant Papyruses. One knew they were truly upset when they were speaking just as loudly as their energetic counterparts.

"if i spoke to her, fresh would c-counter it, and eventually she wouldn't believe anything i said. similar c-conclusion reached if i spoke to anyone else; she'd defend him, and you'd believe her. you've SEEN her traits. the gold, that _C-CHARISMA_ , it works best on people when its passive. it's unnoticeable. you've noticed it too, haven't you? she was fully accepted here within days, practically HOURS; EVEN I ACCEPTED HER! IF I TOOK MY OBSERVATIONS TO ANYONE SHE'D MET, THEY'D BE IGNORED. BUT IF LEFT UNCHECKED, WITH HER EVER-INCREASING C-CONTROL OVER HER MAGIC, SHE C-COULD POTENTIALLY BE UNSTOPPABLE!"

Full volume had been reached. The skeleton's bones were rattling with distress. "I DIDN'T _WANT_ TO KILL HER, OKAY? BUT I C-COULDN'T THINK OF ANYTHING ELSE! i c-couldn't think of anything else to do..."

With that, he didn't seem able to speak much more, his breath coming in short gasps as he tried to calm himself down. Now it was up to the others to react... How would they see his side?

“So that made her life _negligible_ in your mind…?” The normally cheerful and optimistic skeleton hissed in response, gesturing over to a shaking Omorose.  “The possibility of her being good was too _small_ for you to willingly bet on…? Even with all of us here, _watching her_ , and her obvious refusal to even form an actual weapon to attack while just _training_? Did you even _try_ those other options that you listed? No, you _didn’t_. You only extinguished the possible doubts she might have had with Fresh by proving him right!“

“bro, she c-COMPLETELY NEGATED A GASTER BLASTER ATTACK! MADE THEM REFUSE TO FIGHT! OPENED UP A POSSIBILITY OF THEM BETRAYING US! WHAT WAS I _SUPPOSED_ TO THINK?!”

Omorose had had enough of his continued bashing of of her supposed possibility of morality, pushing back her fear and soreness to stand up for herself. “They’d never do such a thing to any of you!! They are loyal to all of you! You’ve raised them, took care of them; they merely found a kindred spirit in me, being a Void-Creature, and didn’t wish to lose such an actual person they could have a conversation with! You all show care, but do not understand their language, so they can become lonely at times you _fool!_ ”

It seemed that it was only after she had spoken up, that they remembered that Seriff was still there.

And _rage_ was the only word to truly describe the look on his face at the moment.

With a swing, his sword was sheathed. He stood from his chair with a bone attack, jagged and sharp, forming in his hand as he walked toward Honey. Everyone's sockets widened at the sight of it.

"seriff, don't-"

The Sielutale Sans shoved the bone into Honey's hand, and forced him to hold it against Seriff's own throat.

The air was tense, suffocating everyone as the seconds ticked on.

"If you're so keen on eliminating threats Honey..." he grinned, only adding to the feeling of foreboding and fear, "Then why don't you go ahead and get rid of this one, hm?"

Honey tried to jerk away, to pull back, but the younger of the two had planned for that. He grabbed the other's wrist to keep him from moving and leaned forward, the pointed tip of the bone digging slightly into his cervical vertebrae. A small trickle of marrow streamed down to stain his shirt.

"What's wrong? You weren't so hesitant when it came to Rosy, why hesitate with me?" Seriff's eye lights disappeared, his slitted blue and purple judgement replacing them for the second time that day. "Why, huh? You at least have a good inkling of Omorose's power. But what of me? You know _nothing_ of the power I wield, the power I hide." His deep voice lowered even more into a growl. His teeth were bared now, the long fangs shining in a threatening way under the glow of his eye single eye light.

"All this time, I could have killed you all. I could have destroyed this place without a single thought. I could have tortured and dusted all of you for shits and giggles. And the thing is..." He leaned in further, uncaring of the now slightly larger stream of marrow coming out of his wound. " **I still can.** "

"All because you didn't bother to check my stats. Because you _assumed_ that I was like any other Sans." His sockets went half-lidded as he tilted his head.  "So go ahead. Do it. I am a threat after all. I deserve to die, don't I?"

Honey said nothing.

So Seriff said something for him.

"It's a beautiful evening, ya know." He muttered, though it seemed like he was yelling in the room filled of deafening silence. "Stars will be shining, the Moon will be bright..." His eyes narrowed, "On nights like these... Bastards like me..."  


" _ **S h o u l d  b e  b u r n i n g  i n  H e l l,  r i g h t?**_ "

There seemed to be a pattern forming here, where sudden outbursts of emotion broke through the deadly silence that had fallen on the inhabitants; Silence had fallen once again, and there was only the light shuffling of someone’s footsteps that caused everyone to focus on who was now approaching the two.

Several sharp inhales could be heard as it became clear it was Omorose who stepped forth, sporting no protection or aggressive stance—It was clear she had trust in Seriff’s ability to protect her as she reached out grip his arm and push the bone away from his throat.

She stared into his judgement eye without fear, but with love, and gave him a small smile. “Tell me Honey,” She began without even looking at the Swap Papyrus she addressed, “What did you expect to happen if you had succeeded?”

“w… w-what…? what do you… mean…?”

“I mean your plan to kill me, of course.” Her reply was soft, her gaze flickering over to him as Blue stood and took a step back to allow the anomaly to speak her peace. “What did you expect to happen after I was dead? After my SOUL could no longer animate my body? You do realize that as an Immortal, my SOUL cannot shatter even after my body is no longer fit to be animated, correct? At least, that is what Meraki has relayed to me. Did you think it would’ve been _over_ after that?” He lurched away from her with an astonished gaze, as if her feather soft words had been blows instead.

“So many things could have happened if you had succeeded. You could have managed to capture my SOUL and trap me forever,” The woman shrugged, as if this possibility was no big deal to her, “Or it could have escaped. Your betrayal might’ve caused my SOUL to darken with hate, and lie in wait for the perfect chance to enact vengeance for my death. By possession or other means, who knows? Someone else with much darker intentions than I’ve ever had might have come across it and used it as a power source, and truly have become the threat you fear I am.” She spoke with sureness, her words deadly soft as she stared the skeleton down.

“And _if_ you had managed to capture me… What would you have told the others? Would you have told them I died by some accident? Would you have lied and told them I ran off for other amusements and simply disappeared? You would get called out on your fallacy on that one, as it seems my marks alert the ones I trust into any danger I am in. And if you had been brave enough to tell them the truth? What had you expected their reactions to be?”

As though a spell had been cast by her words, those in attendance listened, in a daze as the previously thought to be naive anomaly stared down at the creature before her with eyes that now held an ancient light.

“i… i didn’t-”

“Didn’t think that far? Strange, with how carefully you _said_ you thought of your decisions and your status as a Judge, that you didn’t think of the consequences that were to happen afterwards.” He flinched; in that regard, she was telling the whole truth.  “Had you expected to be praised for my murder? Saddened people that were understanding? You do realize that if I was in fact, dead, you would not be alive at this moment. The only reason you are not being digested is because I asked Meraki to release you. Because I did not want _your death_ on my conscience. Because I did not want Blue to go without his younger brother.” She gestured to said skeleton, who looked away at his mention, pure disappoint on his face for his brother.  “But if I was dead? At the very least, Seriff and Meraki would have made you _suffer_ and _beg_ for death before ending your life.”

“You have no idea how close you were Honey, to becoming Dust.” Myles spoke up solemnly at that moment, gaining a few gazes. “If Mafioso had fired just a little closer to the right, the bullet would have hit her spine. That would have killed her, or at the very least paralyzed her…”

Meraki huffed, a plume of smoke rushing forth to fly in Honey's face. The smoker wasn't all that affected by it, this being one of the gentlest things to occur to him today, but he still turned to face the dragoness.

 _"I was saving you for last,"_ she muttered at the side of his skull, intending for only him to hear, _"so that you could see those you'd brought in die before you, and realize that their deaths were on your hands. In fact, two deaths_ did _come about by your actions- the brothers of LustFell. Just think; if you hadn't called them in to help you, they'd still be alive. They'd still be frolicking about their universe, doing whatever violent sex fiends do... but they're not. The Mafia brothers and yourself are only alive by chance, dear Honey; chance and the good will of the one you attacked..."_

“You are lucky that the ones that had died were not ones that anyone here cared about; but they were still _lives_. Lives that had been a part of a universe. Lives that could have had a chance at redemption, however improbable that chance may be.” Omorose continued after Honey looked back to her, his eyes wide and lost.  “You will have to live with that for the rest of your life. _I_ will have to live with that for however long I live.” Tears came to her eyes then, surprising everyone there.  “I… Did not want anyone to suffer from my presence here, much less _perish_! I only wanted to learn, to experience, to _live_! I am no longer content with just existing, nor do I just want to survive, I want to _live_! You tried to take that from me… And now people are dead as a result of it! As a result of your fear getting the best of you! I will suffer from guilt for the rest of my life because of it!“

“don’t you _dare_ try to trick me into thinking you know what suffering is!” Honey suddenly shouted in return, bringing himself to his feet and getting in her face as anger sparked across his expression. Many of those to a step forward at this, torn between wanting to keep Omorose safe and wanting to keep Seriff from tearing Honey bone from bone.  “i didn’t _want_ to kill you! i only wanted to keep my brother and the people i cared about safe! after having been through countless genocide runs where i watch everyone i knew and loved be slaughtered as if they were nothing but _animals_ and not being able to do a _damn_ thing about it until the last minute, i felt the best thing i could do in this situation was stop it before it _became an issue_!“ He was incensed now, his breath coming rapidly and his magic crackling around his bones in a threatening manner as the woman stared blankly at him in return.  “and so the moment i try to change that, _i’m_ the bad guy?! _like hell_ if I’m just going to accept that! and i’m definitely not going to accept you talking’ like you know what that kind of pain is when you’ve barely _experienced_ anything-“

_**Smack!!** _

Honey blinked, his tirade breaking off as he realized he was no longer looking at the Void-Woman and was instead looking in the direction of Meraki, his left zygomatic bones stinging.

Omorose had just… _bitch-slapped_ him.

Well, surprises just kept coming and coming today, huh?

“I don’t know what _true suffering_ is, hm?” The female’s voice was sharper than it had ever been before, power lining her soft tones as her eyes narrowed dangerously at Honey, who slowly turned to look back at her with shock.  “Believing I was the only creature in existence and I would forever be alone for over two decades is not suffering…? Being a scared babe crying all by herself for someone, _anyone_ to hold and comfort her until she completely forgot what loneliness even was is not _suffering_ …?“ Her voice began to rise, slowly, but had a weird resonance to it; it became choral, as if more than one person was speaking through her at once. Her magic gave her strength, allowing her to draw herself up at her full height, making her eyes glow ominously, and causing her hair to float as though there was an unnatural wind that was only affecting her. Honey took a wary step back, but she followed.

“Realizing only after I appeared here that I may or may not have biological siblings that don’t even know I exist is not suffering? Wondering if I even had anyone, or the ones who created me, my parents, are alive and if they are, have missed me, mourned me and moved on, or didn’t even care about my disappearance is **not _s u f f e r i n g_**?! Tell me then Honey, since apparently you know _so damn much about this world_ just what true suffering is to you, since apparently my life is utterly _**m e a n i n g l e s s ! ! ! !**_ “

At the look in Honey's eyelights, it was clear he wasn't going to back down, despite the rattling of his bones.

"that's it? is that all you have to say about what suffering is? sheer _ignorance_? rose, rose, let me tell you something..." The Swap Papyrus stood up straight, his slouch vanishing as he drew himself to his full height, roughly half a foot above Omorose's own.  "...your life has been bliss. you want to know what i think _true suffering_ is? well, here it is."

Several skeletons withdrew slightly, choosing to watch and listen from a distance. This was getting a bit tense, to say the least. In fact, only Fresh, Geno, Giant, Edge, Raspberry, and Blueberry remained where they were... The Mafia brothers had been escorted off to Meraki's side for 'safekeeping.'

"imagine this, innocent one. imagine that you only have one day to live, and you know it. imagine that you know _exactly_ how this one day will go, down to every last detail you could _possibly_ observe or change. imagine that no matter what happens through the course of this day, all the people you consider precious to you will _die_ , until there's only you left. imagine that you know, with everything that guides you, that if you die as well, the entire world will cease to exist. the deaths of an entire planet- of an entire _universe_ \- will be on your head if you lose."

He took a breath, stuffing his hands in his pockets to keep them occupied.

"now imagine that no matter what you think, no matter what you say or what you do, you _know_ that the opponent you face is unbeatable. that's it. you can't win. but you still have to _try_ , you still have to _try_ avoiding this fate because if you don't, you'll have the end of an entire universe on your hands. even though there is no hope whatsoever of winning, you have to try... and you lose."

Quietly, Raspberry took a few steps back to join the others; specifically, his brother.

"imagine this, omorose. imagine that this scenario repeats for you ceaselessly; that your unbeatable opponent brings you back only so they can murder everyone again and again and again; that everything you try to _do_ is useless. you're useless, you're _meaningless_ in the face of this onslaught, and you're ready to finally give up... but your opponent stops, and they grant you MERCY."

Blueberry came closer, hugging his brother because he couldn't do anything else, but still refusing to look at him. His eyelights were no longer extinguished; instead merely dim blue circles of sorrow.

"you, and everyone you care about, can finally _move on_. you'll never have to go back and face their deaths again. you're finally allowed to feel _HAPPY_ again, you're finally allowed to feel _HOPE_ again, _you're finally allowed to be at PEACE with yourself_... because they decided that they'd had enough."

Honey's mood grew wistful as he spoke, his tone and stance softening as he thought of the good times... Then, he looked down at Omorose with a sad smile, and raised a hand to gently cup her cheek.

"imagine that so long after being released from this hell, you've come face to face with that threat again. an unbeatable opponent, rose, your life dependent upon their very whim. imagine that you _know_ they're innocent, you _know_ they're kind, but you know that those traits only make them easier to be led astray. imagine that you know, with all of your very _being_ , that MERCY can be overtaken by a FIGHT at any moment. soon, you won't be able to stop anything, and you'll be stuck in the loop once more... but there's one difference this time."

His thumb brushed delicately across her cheek, as he continued to look her straight in her amethyst eyes.

"imagine that your new opponent isn't as unbeatable as the last one. you can stop everything, you can _SAVE everyone_ that is precious to you... but you only have a short window of time to do it in. tick tock, rose, your opponent is only getting stronger, and soon you won't be able to stop them. you have the chance to _do something_ about it... and no matter _how much_ you don't want to _hurt_ this innocent creature... _you must._ "

…………

The young woman’s eyes fell shut, her magic dying down as her face softened in resignation and understanding. Guilt settled like a lead weight in her chest and she sighed deeply…

But the fact of the matter was that she _was_ innocent and she didn’t deserve to _die_.

“…I know you had good intentions Honey. I know your actions weren’t because you were being malicious. I had realized you had done it because you merely wanted to protect the ones you care about… It’s much like that Logic versus Emotion scenario I had read about before. One life versus many others. Only difference was your emotions of the many trumped the emotions of the one. I would have lost that battle either way, and I understand that.”

Her hand moved up to lightly grasp the one that was cupping her cheek, giving it a gentle squeeze before lightly pushing it away.

“But the facts are the facts here. You were _wrong_ in what you did… And you are aware that you are because you did not even tell your allies the whole truth about me when rallying them to become a part of the plot to end me. I have not done _anything_ —nor do I wish to—to hurt you and yours. I have bonded with them, just as you have. I want to live the rest of my life making them happy and keeping them safe. Is that not what you want? Is that not what you _need_? It is a desire that I share… But I have to _live_ in order to do that… And isn’t it my right to want to live the life I have? I did not ask to _exist_ , Honey… But I will make sure that my existence is not meaningless. No one should have to go through what you, and what I’m assuming what many here, have gone through… But shouldn’t I at least have the chance to _attempt_ to understand? To experience heartache, despair, and hopelessness just as much as love, happiness, and warmth? If ignorance is bliss, then I wish to be miserable for all my days. I want to experience it _all_ … So I can be like the people I think so highly of.”

Her eyes opened once again, and Omorose stood tall in front of the mastermind of her attempted murder as she held his gaze… Trust no longer there, and affection definitely lessened, but no less respect than she had before.

There was possibly… even _more_ there.

“I am not you, my friend… And you are not me. Just because our experiences and sorrows are not the same does not mean one is lesser than the other.” She inhaled deeply, fight and fear leaving her body with an exhale… “Thank you for the lesson.”

Here he gained a troubled, confounded look. “…lesson?”

“Trust is something that must be earned… not given out like sweets. I will not be blindly following anyone to a secluded location anymore like some mindless sheep, you can be sure. This is a lesson I shall not ever forget, I can assure you.” Her form turned, and began to stride away from the Swap Papyrus with her head held high, one last sentence floating in the air as she left. “And since you’ve shown concern for it, I shall... also take your words about Mister Fresh into account.”

Everyone watched in silence as she strode past them all into the manor, shutting the glass door behind her.

Seriff watched his sister walk away, before his shoulders slacked lightly. Gods, he couldn't remember the last time he felt this tired, this tense. It was just like-

He turned around, heading towards the side of the house. "I'm goin t'Grillbys. I'm gonna need one hell of a stiff drink after all this."

With a simple flick of his hand, he was gone, leaving the other skeletons and Meraki. It'd give them time to think about the past 30 or so minutes.

....

Maybe that wasn't the best idea.

"Wait..." A Papyrus with... questionable taste in clothing styles, spoke up. "Did anyone else notice how that bone attack actually caused damage to Seriff?"

“….Yeah?” Sci asked, ultimately confused by this question. “…And?”

“Well, it was _his_ bone attack…”

“Not understanding what you’re getting at bro.” Myles murmured, a bit afraid to be much louder in the silence that had once again fallen as Honey collapsed into a seated position again with Blue gripping his shoulder gently. Honey seemed… subdued. And regretful.

“If it’s his own bone attack… Then it shouldn’t have been able to hurt him... Unless he wanted it to.”

"FUCKING BRILLIANT, YOU GET A GOLD STAR." Edge stood up, turning to face the way Seriff had gone. "I'LL BE BACK LATER. RED, COME ALONG."

"got it boss."

The two Fell skeletons moved to follow Seriff together, turning the corner and disappearing from sight.

Meraki watched them go, and once they were gone, turned to stare at the group of skeletons as a whole. "Welp, today has been a great day. My charge has been both mentally and physically traumatized, my best friend's emotional state has reverted several years back, and now I don't even get to eat the culprits. I am pissed. Everyone is pissed. Nobody is happy with this outcome."

With that, the dragoness shifted back into her human form, and sauntered off into the house to cuddle with Omorose.

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome, welcome one and all to another fabulous story with Optima and Ultimate, guest-starring Shadow who is too lazy to officially join the party xD
> 
> As Multiversal beings are encountered and nicknamed, please feel free to check the notes at the beginning of the story for skeleton nicknames and AU ownership~


End file.
